[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 111 (Tuesday, September 19, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H7749-H7750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING NEED FOR CATALOGING AND MAINTAINING PUBLIC
MEMORIALS COMMEMORATING MILITARY CONFLICTS AND SERVICE OF INDIVIDUALS
IN ARMED FORCES
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 345) expressing the sense of the
Congress regarding the need for cataloging and maintaining public
memorials commemorating military conflicts of the United States and the
service of individuals in the Armed Forces.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Con. Res. 345
Whereas there are many thousands of public memorials
scattered throughout the United States and abroad that
commemorate military conflicts of the United States and the
service of individuals in the Armed Forces;
Whereas these memorials have never been comprehensively
cataloged;
Whereas many of these memorials suffer from neglect and
disrepair, and many have been relocated or stored in
facilities where they are unavailable to the public and
subject to further neglect and damage;
Whereas there exists a need to collect and centralize
information regarding the location, status, and description
of these memorials;
Whereas the Federal Government maintains information on
memorials only if they are Federally funded; and
Whereas Remembering Veterans Who Earned Their Stripes (a
nonprofit corporation established as RVETS, Inc. under the
laws of the State of Nevada) has undertaken a self-funded
program to catalogue the memorials located in the United
States that commemorate military conflicts of the United
States and the service of individuals in the Armed Forces,
and has already obtained information on more than 7,000
memorials in 50 States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) the people of the United States owe a debt of gratitude
to veterans for their sacrifices in defending the Nation
during times of war and peace;
(2) public memorials that commemorate military conflicts of
the United States and the service of individuals in the Armed
Forces should be maintained in good condition, so that future
generations may know of the burdens borne by these
individuals;
(3) Federal, State, and local agencies responsible for the
construction and maintenance of these memorials should
cooperate in cataloging these memorials and providing the
resulting information to the Department of the Interior; and
(4) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the
Director of the National Park Service, should--
(A) collect and maintain information on public memorials
that commemorate military conflicts of the United States and
the service of individuals in the Armed Forces;
(B) coordinate efforts at collecting and maintaining this
information with similar efforts by other entities, such as
Remembering Veterans Who Earned Their Stripes (a nonprofit
corporation established as RVETS, Inc. under the laws of the
State of Nevada); and
(C) make this information available to the public.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Utah (Mr. Hansen) and the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen).
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
H. Con. Res. 345 introduced by the gentleman rom California (Mr.
Rogan)
[[Page H7750]]
addresses the need for a cataloged list of the many different public
war memorials of the United States. Thousands of public memorials
dealing with the United States' involvement in military conflicts exist
throughout the world. However, there is no index or record as to their
location nor is there a cataloged assessment as to their condition.
Unfortunately, many of these memorials suffer from neglect, disrepair
or have been relocated or stored in facilities where they are not
accessible to the public.
Currently, the Federal Government only keeps track of those memorials
that are federally funded; however, nonprofit organizations such as
Remembering Veterans Who Earned Their Stripes have undertaken self-
funded programs in an attempt to catalog these memorials.
H. Con. Res. 345 urges the Secretary of the Interior, acting through
the National Park Service, to collect and maintain information on
public memorials commemorating military conflicts of the United States.
The resolution also urges a coordinated effort between the Federal
Government and other organizations like Remembering Veterans Who Earned
Their Stripes and collecting and maintaining this information which
would then be available to the public.
Mr. Speaker, this legislation is ready to move forward, and I urge my
colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 345.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance
of my time.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Rogan) a Member who is the author of
this legislation.
Mr. ROGAN. Mr. Speaker, first I want to thank my dear friend, the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen), the distinguished chairman, for
yielding the time to me.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 345, which addresses
the need to create a cataloged list of the thousands of public war
memorials in the United States. Mr. Speaker, this resolution is the
product of over a decade-long effort by Vietnam War veteran Brian
Rooney and the nonprofit organization he founded, Remembering Veterans
Who Earned Their Stripes, otherwise known as RVETS based in North
Ridge, California.
Mr. Rooney believed that war memorials preserve the memories of our
veteran's sacrifices and serve as a reminder of America's history. He
discovered that today there is no detailed index or record of the
thousands of public memorials dedicated to America's involvement in
military conflicts, more importantly, dedicated to those who gave their
lives for freedom.
Mr. Rooney investigated conditions for years. He found that these
memorials suffer from neglect, disrepair and have been relocated or
stored in facilities where they are not accessible to the public.
Currently, the Federal Government monitors only those memorials that
are federally funded. We have relied on the hard work of individuals
like Mr. Rooney who have conducted this arduous task.
H. Con. Res. 345 urges the Secretary of the Interior, acting through
the National Park Service, to collect and maintain information on
public memorials commemorating military conflicts of the United States.
It urges a coordinated effort between the Federal Government and
other entities like RVETS in collecting and maintaining this
information which would then be made available to the public. RVETS
already has cataloged over 7,000 monuments. They already have done most
of the work needed to establish the database.
H. Con. Res. 345 is a bipartisan effort to honor our veterans. I want
to thank Brian Rooney for his dedication not just to the country as a
Vietnam war veteran, but for the decade he has spent conducting this
search so that veterans could be honored.
I understand, Mr. Speaker, that this morning there has been some
partisan bickering going on with respect to some of these resolutions,
but I would just urge all of my colleagues to put that aside today so
that we can appropriately honor veterans who have served our country
and who have given their life and service for our country, and vote to
support this bipartisan resolution.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Gilman), the chairman of the Committee on International
Relations.
(Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in support of H.
Con. Res. 345, and I urge its adoption by the House, and I commend the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) and the gentleman from California (Mr.
Rogan) for helping to bring this matter to the floor at this time.
This legislation which urges the Secretary of the Interior, acting
through the Park Service, to gather and maintain information on public
memorials commemorating U.S. military conflicts and to make that
information available to the public, which will be very useful to the
entire nation. It further urges that the Federal Government cooperate
with private entities in accomplishing that important goal.
Mr. Speaker, there are literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of
memorials and monuments dedicated to our fighting men and women of our
Nation's military. These include monuments commissioned and dedicated
by the Federal Government, State governments and various localities.
Over time, their number has grown to the point where it has become
difficult to keep track of all of the monuments that are now in
existence.
This legislation will help simplify matters by requesting the
Interior Department to initiate action to collect and disseminate
information, a step they have undertaken on all of these monuments. The
end result will be helpful to both tourists and researchers alike, but
particularly to all of our veterans organizations.
Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues to lend this bill their full
support, and I thank the gentleman for yielding the time to me.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) that the House suspend the rules and
agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 345.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was
agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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