[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 173 (Tuesday, December 1, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1687-E1688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  REMARKS AT AMERICAN ARCHITECTURAL FOUNDATION'S OCULUS AWARD CEREMONY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 1, 2015

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, today I had the honor of addressing the 
American Architectural Foundation's Oculus award ceremony to celebrate 
leadership in cultural heritage and highlight organizations whose 
preservation initiatives promote vibrant, sustainable communities. This 
year's Oculus award was presented to Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates 
for their national leadership in historic preservation.
  I want to applaud the work of the American Architectural Foundation 
(AAF) and its president and CEO Ron Bogle. AAF's efforts to make 
restoration, preservation and protection of our nation's vulnerable 
historic buildings, collections, artifacts and works of art a national 
priority is commendable and it's an agenda I fully support.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit my remarks from today's Oculus award.

       Good afternoon.
       Thank you, Mr. Ayers for the kind introduction. I 
     appreciate all that you and your staff are doing to keep 
     Congress working while you are restoring our beautiful 
     Capitol dome. Thank you for your leadership.
       I am thrilled to be here today.
       The American Architectural Foundation is playing an 
     important role in driving an agenda that places cultural 
     heritage, historic preservation, and architectural 
     restoration at its forefront.
       I want to commend the vision and tremendous work of AAF 
     President and CEO Ron Bogle, along with Mr. Thom Minner, 
     Director of AAF's Center for Design and Cultural Heritage. 
     Ron and Thom are working with me to get Congress re-engaged 
     as a partner in protecting and restoring our country's 
     historic treasures, treasures that unite communities and 
     connect the past to the future.
       We are here today to honor a company for more than 50 years 
     of accomplishments in historic preservation. Congratulations 
     to Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates on receiving the 2015 
     Oculus award.
       WJE has a long record of contributing to projects across 
     the U.S. and around the world. They have an office in 
     Minnesota, but I was surprised to learn how often we worked 
     at the same places.
       In the early 1970s my first full-time job was in downtown 
     St. Paul in the First National Bank building. Later, WJE 
     worked on the First National Bank building. As a Minnesota 
     state legislator, I spent eight years working in our 
     beautiful Cass Gilbert designed state capitol building. WJE 
     has worked on the capitol. And, one of my proudest 
     accomplishments in Congress has been to help secure the 
     funding for the renovation of St. Paul's historic 1920's era 
     train station--Union Depot. The Depot's $250 million 
     restoration was completed in 2013 and, again, WJE worked on 
     the project.
       Again, congratulations WJE on your tremendous record of 
     success.
       At the beginning of this year I became the lead Democrat on 
     the Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. Each 
     year our subcommittee produces a bill that provides over $30 
     billion to fund the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
     Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, the 
     National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, the 
     Smithsonian museums, and a number of other federal agencies. 
     It is an important portfolio that funds hundreds of millions 
     of acres of federal land, our national parks, tribal nations, 
     and many of America's most important historic sites.
       Over the past months my office has been engaged with 
     federal stakeholders and AAF to review the federal 
     government's role in historic preservation. It is absolutely 
     clear that without leadership from Congress and the Obama 
     Administration our nation's most vulnerable treasures are at 
     risk of being lost to time, decay, or neglect. Unfortunately, 
     Congress and the Administration are neglecting our nation's 
     treasures and this political apathy is costing the American 
     people our cultural heritage.
       In the 2016 House and Senate Interior-Environment 
     appropriations bills, approximately $61 million is allocated 
     to the Historic Preservation Fund--primarily to support 
     historic preservation offices in states, territories and 
     tribal nations. This amount represents less than half of the 
     $150 million authorized funding level and it is nearly $20 
     million less than was spent on historic preservation in 2010.
       This abandonment of historic preservation runs counter to 
     the desires of our constituents. States, local communities, 
     non-profits, the foundation community, and the private sector 
     want the federal government to be a real partner. All across 
     our country communities come together and identify endangered 
     historic and cultural assets that uniquely reflect local 
     character and identity. It may be a historic building, a 
     church, an archeological site, or a collection representing a 
     moment in a community's history that exemplifies a unique 
     piece of our American history. And, communities are asking 
     for help--both technical and financial--because they want 
     their valued asset to be preserved, protected, and restored 
     for the next generation.
       From 1999 to 2010 help was available. During those years, 
     Congress provided modest, but critical funding for a program 
     called Save America's Treasures. $318 million in federal 
     funding was appropriated for SAT grants over twelve years--
     that is less than $1 per American for a decade of 
     investments. Those grants required a dollar-for-dollar match 
     which leveraged over $400 million in additional funds.
       But, since 2011, Congress has not provided a single dollar 
     to Save America's Treasures.
       During SAT's twelve years, more than 1,200 grants were 
     awarded to restore 327 historic properties; 247 projects to 
     restore collections, artifacts, artistic works, and documents 
     were funded; and, 341 National Historic Landmarks were 
     preserved.
       The treasures saved include: the restoration of Rosa Parks' 
     bus; restoring Little Rock's Central High School; saving 
     Ansel

[[Page E1688]]

     Adam's prints, negatives and equipment; restoring an 18th 
     century South Carolina plantation house; preserving the ruins 
     at Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park; and repairing and 
     preserving the 1812 flag that flew over Fort McHenry that 
     inspired the Star Spangled Banner.
       In my Minnesota congressional district, a $150,000 SAT 
     grant matched by community contributions helped to fund a 
     sprinkler system in the longest serving Czech-Slovak Hall in 
     the U.S. built in 1879. This grant saved the Sokol Hall while 
     other ethnic halls have been lost to fire. On Saturday I'll 
     be attending an event at the Sokol Hall and it is a wonderful 
     center of community activity.
       SAT has been an example of a public-private partnership 
     that keeps history, culture, identity, and democracy vibrant 
     and sustainable in towns and cities all across America.
       In my view SAT grants have acted as venture capital that 
     sparks a community into action. It is an investment that 
     inspires a community and donors to invest time, money, 
     volunteer support--all to the benefit of the project. A good 
     project with an SAT grant becomes a great project. Without 
     that federal support many projects will never get done and 
     national treasures are now being lost forever.
       I am passionate about restoring federal funding for SAT 
     because I have a partner that shares my enthusiasm. That 
     partner is the American Architectural Foundation. The 
     National Park Service is SAT's lead federal agency while AAF 
     is SAT's official non-profit partner.
       Other federal partners include the National Endowment for 
     the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the 
     Institute of Museum and Library Services. They all have 
     valuable technical capacity to contribute--if federal funds 
     are made available.
       In 2016 our nation will celebrate the 50th anniversary of 
     the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Next year 
     also marks the 100th anniversary of our National Parks. As 
     citizens who care about historic preservation, now is the 
     time to get organized and energized. Working together, we 
     need to get Congress investing once again in Saving America's 
     Treasures.
       I am thrilled to be working with AAF and other partners who 
     share the vision that preserving America's past helps to 
     build America's future.
       It has been wonderful being here with you. Thank you AAF 
     for the invitation to be here today.
       Thank you.

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