[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 28, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H1137-H1139]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1430
        VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL VISITOR CENTER ENFORCEMENT ACT

  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4882) to ensure the proper remembrance of Vietnam veterans 
and the Vietnam War by providing a deadline for the designation of a 
visitor center for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4882

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Vietnam Veterans Memorial 
     Visitor Center Enforcement Act''.

     SEC. 2. SITE.

        Section 6 of Public Law 96-297 is amended by adding at the 
     end the following:
       ``(e) Site.--The visitor center authorized by subsection 
     (a) shall be located in the open land in the triangular area 
     between Henry Bacon Drive, NW, 23rd Street, NW, Constitution 
     Avenue, NW, and the Lincoln Memorial.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Schwarz of Michigan). Pursuant to the 
rule, the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) and the gentleman from 
West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Mexico.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Mexico?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 4882, introduced by Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, 
along with Ranking Member Nick Rahall, Congresswoman Donna Christensen 
and myself, would locate the congressionally approved underground 
visitors center for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on land adjacent to 
the Lincoln Memorial.
  Chairman Pombo felt compelled to take this unusual action in direct 
response to what he and I and others believe is the unreasonable 
bureaucracy choreographed by the National Capital Planning Commission.
  In November of 2003, the President signed the bill into law 
authorizing the creation of the visitors center. For 3\1/2\ years, this 
project has been under way with the National Park Service and the 
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund having promptly met all requests for 
environmental and related information on the siting of the center. Yet, 
the commission demands more.
  Last November, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the National 
Park Service gave the commission an extensive traffic analysis and met 
other information requests for a December 1 meeting at which the 
commission was expected to approve the site. However, without any 
notice to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the commission removed 
the visitors center from the meeting agenda and requested an extensive 
and unprecedented environmental analysis.
  There is no need for an additional analysis. In compliance with the 
Commemorative Works Act, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund 
commissioned a site selection study environmental analysis in June 2005 
that recommended the most appropriate site, which is cited in H.R. 
4882, as amended. Site A, as it is known, would not interfere or 
encroach on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial or other memorials and 
protects the open space and visual sight lines of the National Mall as 
required by the authorizing legislation.
  As a Vietnam veteran, I believe the visitors center is a long overdue 
complement to the most visited memorial in Washington, DC. While ``the 
Wall,'' as it has become known, certainly provides a visitor with an 
intense and solemn experience, it lacks personal context. Our brave 
soldier, sailors, and airmen desperately need something more, an 
experience that can help them heal while bringing closure. Their 
objectives were honorable and their sacrifice was exemplary. Yet their 
heroism remains unnoticed by younger generations.
  As today's participants in the military, young men and women, fight 
the war on terror, there is no better way to reassure them that America 
will honor their sacrifice, no matter what the Nation feels. The 
greatest thing that we can do to reassure them is to honor our Vietnam 
veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill, as amended.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. RAHALL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to join Chairman Pombo as an 
original cosponsor of this measure, along with the ranking member on 
our Parks Subcommittee, Representative Donna Christensen. We urge our 
colleagues to approve H.R. 4882.
  While the fighting ended more than 30 years ago, our work as a nation 
to reconcile with all that took place during the Vietnam Era continues.
  Just as the Revolutionary War gave birth to our liberty, and the 
survival of our Union through the Civil War and two World Wars gave us 
strength, the lessons of the Vietnam War can grant us wisdom; and while 
the emotions stirred by that war in the hearts and minds of Americans 
are many and varied, the journey this Nation has taken with regard to 
Vietnam resembles nothing so much as a journey of grieving.
  We grieve for the fallen, for the bereft families, for the survivors 
and their painful scars, and for the wounds inflicted on the country 
and the people of Vietnam.
  Mr. Speaker, the experts tell us that there are stages to the 
grieving process. In those 30 years, we have experienced them each in 
turn.
  The process began with denial and with anger. For a time, we denied 
Vietnam its rightful place in American history as we denied those who 
fought and died their rightful place in the pantheon of American 
heroes. And Lord knows we have felt the anger. To our shame, we 
directed much of that anger at those who served.
  We have also lived through what the experts call the bargaining 
phase. We

[[Page H1138]]

have wished, we have hoped, and we have prayed that things might have 
turned out differently, that we might, as a nation, have responded 
differently. We have tried to negotiate away our failures.
  And we have surely endured the next phase, the depression that comes 
with war and with death. Those who returned from Vietnam and the 
families of those who did not have felt the deep darkness of painful 
loss. And our Nation, as a whole, has endured a lingering sadness for 
so much that was lost during that time.
  But, finally, Mr. Speaker, we reached the last stage; and it is here 
that the Vietnam Memorial plays such a powerful role. We have achieved 
some level of acceptance. We have, however belatedly, begun to treat 
those who sacrificed for their country in Vietnam with the reverence 
they have earned, and we have begun to heal. The Vietnam Memorial is a 
powerful symbol of that healing and an emotional catalyst for it.
  The Wall's designer, the amazingly gifted Maya Lin, described her 
idea for the Wall as a ``rift in the Earth.'' The Wall literally stands 
as a deep, dark scar on the land, and it represents the deep scar we 
carry as a nation; but a scar is an important part of healing.
  The National Park Service describes the goal of the memorial as 
``nourishing national reconciliation,'' and in achieving 
reconciliation, the Memorial has succeeded beyond even the wildest 
dreams of its most ardent supports.
  More than 20 million people have made the journey to the memorial and 
the journey through the memorial, leaving millions of personal items in 
tribute and in memory; and they have felt some measure of healing, of 
acceptance. Perhaps more important, the Wall, and the reaction to it by 
the millions who have seen it, has begun to make Vietnam veterans and 
their families feel some measure of acceptance as well.
  The leadership of the House Resources Committee has pledged to work 
together in a bipartisan fashion to ensure that this process of healing 
and acceptance continues.
  A visitors center will broaden and deepen the experience of those who 
come to the Wall. A visitor center will educate. Visitors can learn 
about the 57,939 names that were inscribed on the Wall when it was 
built and the more than 300 that have been added since. The center can 
offer information regarding the 151 people listed on the Wall who, in 
making the ultimate sacrifice for their country, were awarded the Medal 
of Honor, or the 16 clergy members, or the 120 people who hailed from 
foreign countries. We still have many lessons to learn.
  A visitors center can help interpret as well. The center will provide 
space for a small sampling of the enormous volume of memorabilia left 
at the Wall, and as more and more visitors bring with them less and 
less personal experience of the war, a visitors center will provide 
them invaluable context and meaning.
  Fittingly, Mr. Speaker, one end of the Vietnam Memorial points 
directly toward the grand statue of our 16th President housed inside 
the Lincoln Memorial. Written on the wall of that memorial are words 
from Lincoln's second inaugural address, which also speak to the role 
of the Vietnam Wall:
  ``With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the 
right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the 
work we are in, to bind up the Nation's wounds.
  ``To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow 
and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and 
lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.''
  H.R. 4882 will help finish the work we are in regarding Vietnam. It 
will help continue the healing provided by the memorial. It will help 
bind up the Nation's wounds, and we urge its passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I thank the gentleman for his comments and would note that in this 
past week I was able to tour a brand-new school in my district, the 2nd 
District of New Mexico, that is named after the Bataan March.
  The Bataan Death March occurred because the Nation forgot a small 
increment, a small group of soldiers, most of them in the New Mexico 
National Guard. Those people were taken captive, and now I find young 
school members, school kids today understanding the sacrifices that 
were made in that Bataan March back in World War II.
  I was in Vietnam when the Nation turned its back on the young 
soldiers of the Vietnam Era. I was there as we were spit on and cursed 
as we came back. Right now, most Vietnam veterans look for only one 
greeting, that is, welcome home. Even today, those words are enough to 
satisfy the Vietnam veteran to whom a nation turned its back.
  For the National Capital Planning Commission to turn its back on our 
veterans from Vietnam one more time is beyond belief. I urge passage of 
the bill.
  Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4882, as 
amended.
  H.R. 4882, legislation I introduced along with Resources Committee 
Ranking Member Congressman Rahall, National Parks Subcommittee Chairman 
Pearce and Subcommittee Ranking Member Christensen, would locate the 
congressionally approved underground visitor center for the Vietnam 
Veterans Memorial adjacent to the Lincoln Memorial.
  I felt compelled to take this unusual action in direct response to 
what I believe is the unreasonable bureaucracy choreographed by the 
National Capital Planning Commission, NCPC. After having met with the 
NCPC chairman, I believed more than ever that I had to take such action 
when I asked him the simple question: When will the commission complete 
its unusually long evaluation for the placement of the center? His 
answer was that the commission was still collecting information and 
that he could not give me a day, month, week or year.
  Following years of failed attempts to secure an authorization for the 
visitor center, I was able to get legislation to the President in 
November 2003. It is now March 2006 and the National Park Service and 
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund have promptly met all NCPC requests 
for environmental and related information on the sitting of the center 
and yet the commission wants more. Enough is enough.
  As late as November 2005, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the 
National Park Service gave the NCPC an extensive traffic analysis and 
met other NCPC requests for a December 1 NCPC meeting. The commission 
was to approve the site for the center at this meeting.
  Instead, without any notice to the National Park Service and the 
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the NCPC removed the visitor center 
from the meeting agenda and requested an extensive and unprecedented 
environmental analysis.
  I do not believe there is a need for additional analysis. In 
compliance with the Commemorative Works Act and the NCPC policies and 
procedures, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund commissioned an 
environmental analysis/site selection study in June 2005. The 
recommended site for the visitor center is cited in H.R. 4882. Site A, 
as it is known, would not interfere or encroach on the Lincoln or 
Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and protects the open space and visual 
sightlines of the Mall as required by the authorizing legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time, I would like to thank John Reese and Scott 
Randall of the city of Danville, CA, and Mike Weber of the city of San 
Ramon, CA, for their service to this country and their leadership and 
strong support for the visitor center.
  Finally, if there was any doubt as to the need for this important 
legislation, one should take a look at the article that appeared in the 
March 23, 2006, edition of the Washington Examiner. A spokeswoman for 
the NCPC is quoted as saying the commission is concerned that ``you 
could end up with a four- or five-story building next to the Lincoln 
Memorial.''
  How is that possible when the visitor center is required by statute 
to be located underground? I think that quote sums up the agenda of the 
staff of the NCPC and their unfounded opposition to the visitor center.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4882, as amended.
  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to raise some serious concerns 
about H.R. 4882, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visitor Center Deadline 
Enforcement Act. I think everyone in this body, myself included, 
believes strongly that the Vietnam Veterans Memorial should have a 
visitors center. That is why Congress passed H.R. 1442 2\1/2\ years ago 
with unanimous support.
  That bill authorized the visitors center to be constructed on Federal 
land in the District of Colombia. It also required that the design and 
construction of the center comply with existing

[[Page H1139]]

Federal law governing the placement of memorials, museums, and other 
facilities on the Mall. As I am sure Members know, the construction of 
new facilities on the Mall is a difficult and often contentious issue 
where the competing interests of particular advocates sometimes 
conflict with the need to protect the sightlines and openness of the 
Mall itself.
  In order to deal with these issues fairly, ensure that all interested 
parties have a voice, and protect what is truly a national treasure, 
Congress has created the National Capitol Planning Commission, over 
which the Government Reform Committee has jurisdiction. It has also 
established in law a process for the consideration and approval of new 
facilities on the Mall in the Commemorative Works Act.
  The bill before us, H.R. 4882, short-circuits that process in two 
ways. First, it would create an arbitrary deadline for the visitors 
center's approval--30 days from the date of enactment. Second, the bill 
designates the sight on which the center will be built--a small 
triangle of land between the Vietnam Veterans and Lincoln Memorials. 
This seems like the kind of micro-management that could be avoided if 
the Commemorative Works Act process was followed.
  One of the requirements of current law is for an environmental 
assessment to be done on all new facilities on the Mall. It is my 
understanding that the lack of a completed environmental assessment for 
the Vietnam visitors center is what has held up the approval for the 
facility by the Nation Capitol Planning Commission. This assessment 
will provide critical information needed for final site approval, and 
it is my further understanding that this assessment is currently 
underway.
  I believe that this approval process should be allowed to reach its 
own conclusion, without mandated deadlines and site selection. The 
National Capitol Planning Commission is working in good faith with the 
National Park Service, the General Services Administration, the 
government of the District of Colombia, and Vietnam Veterans groups to 
reach a timely conclusion to this approval process. They should be 
allowed to do so.
  Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 
4882, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visitor Center Deadline Enforcement 
Act.
  I want to thank the chairman of the Committee on Resources, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo), and also our ranking member, the 
gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), for their leadership in 
bringing this legislation to the floor.
  In 2003, Congress authorized the construction of a visitor center for 
the Vietnam Memorial to help provide information and educate the public 
about the memorial and the Vietnam War.
  Unfortunately, over the past three years, progress in selecting a 
location for the visitor's center has stalled due to bureaucratic red-
tape. The legislation we are considering today will bring the site-
selection process to a close by designating both a location for the 
center's construction and a deadline for its completion.
  I believe an Educational Visitors Center will serve as an important 
learning tool for the millions of visitors who visit the Wall each 
year, especially those too young to remember Vietnam.
  I strongly support this effort to at last make the Vietnam Veterans 
Memorial Visitor Center a reality and I urge my colleagues to vote in 
support of this legislation.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, there is no place more sacred for me 
than the Vietnam Memorial. A close second is the Lincoln Memorial. I 
visit and run by these poignant places on our National Mall on a nearly 
daily basis when Congress is in session.
  When changes to the Mall are planned it is critical to have a process 
in place to protect the integrity of the memorials that honor our 
history. I'm appalled that a bill such as this is coming before 
Congress, which short circuits the well-functioning process currently 
in place.
  This isn't about bureaucracy and the environment. This is about 
respect for two sacred places.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4882, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

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