[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 93 (Monday, June 11, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TRIBUTE TO MONUMENTS MEN AND WOMEN OF WORLD WAR II

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 7, 2007

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, on this 63rd anniversary of 
D-day, I am proud to pay tribute to the men and women who served in the 
Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives program, MFAA, under the Civil 
Affairs and Military Government Sections of the United States Armed 
Forces for their heroic role in the preservation, protection, and 
restitution of monuments, works of art, and other priceless artifacts 
in Europe and Asia during and following World War II.
  That is why I am proud to be a sponsor of H. Con. Res. 48, which 
provides much needed recognition to the ``Monuments Men and Women'' who 
did so much to preserve many of the world great cultural treasures.
  Without their dedication and service, many more of the world's 
artistic and historic treasures would have been destroyed or lost 
forever amidst the chaos and destruction of World War II.
  I wish to give special thanks and appreciation to the ``Monuments 
Men'' for establishing the precedent of protecting cultural property in 
the event of armed conflict, and by setting a standard not just for one 
country, but for people of all nations to acknowledge and uphold.
  In 1943, the United States Government established the American 
Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic 
Monuments in War Areas to promote and coordinate the protection and 
salvage of works of art and cultural and historical monuments and 
records in countries occupied by Allied armies during World War II. The 
chairman of the Commission was Supreme Court Associate Justice Owen J. 
Roberts.
  In connection with the establishment of the Roberts Commission, the 
Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program, MFAA, was established under 
the Civil Affairs and Military Government Sections of the United States 
Armed Forces.
  The Roberts Commission and the MFAA provide an example for other 
countries, working in conjunction with the United States, to develop 
similar programs. More than 100 foreign MFAA personnel, representing at 
least 17 countries, contributed to this international effort.
  The MFAA was comprised of both men and women, commissioned officers 
and civilians, who were appointed or volunteered to serve as 
representatives of the Roberts Commission and as the official guardians 
of some of the world's greatest artistic and cultural treasures.
  Members of the MFAA, called the ``Monuments Men,'' often joined 
frontline military forces and some even lost their lives in combat 
during World War II. For years following the Allied victory in World 
War II, members of the MFAA worked tirelessly to locate, identify, 
catalogue, restore, and repatriate priceless works of art and 
irreplaceable cultural artifacts, including masterpieces by Da Vinci, 
Michelangelo, Rembrandt and Vermeer, that had been stolen or 
sequestered by the Axis powers.
  The heroic actions of the MFAA in saving priceless works of art and 
irreplaceable cultural artifacts for future generations cannot be 
overstated. It set a moral precedent and established standards, 
practices, and procedures for the preservation, protection, and 
restitution of artistic and cultural treasures in future armed 
conflicts.
  Members of the MFAA went on to become renowned directors and curators 
of preeminent international cultural institutions, including the 
National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of 
Modern Art, the Toledo Museum of Art, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of 
Art, as well as professors at institutions of higher education, 
including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, New York University, Williams 
College, and Columbia University.
  Other members of the MFAA were founders, presidents, and members of 
associations, such as the New York City Ballet, the American 
Association of Museums, the American Association of Museum Directors, 
the Archaeological Institute of America, the Society of Architectural 
Historians, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the National 
Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts, 
as well as respected artists, architects, musicians, and archivists.
  Madam Speaker, it bears repeating that the heroic actions of the MFAA 
in saving priceless works of art and irreplaceable cultural artifacts 
for future generations cannot be overstated. It established the 
standards, practices, and procedures for the preservation, protection, 
and saved for the world artistic and cultural treasures of inestimable 
value.
  I salute the ``Monuments Men and Women,'' who by their example 
provide further proof of why we call theirs the ``Greatest 
Generation.''

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