[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 4, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H62-H63]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 APPROVING LOCATION OF MEMORIAL TO COMMEMORATE MEMBERS OF ARMED FORCES 
  WHO SERVED IN SUPPORT OF OPERATION DESERT STORM OR OPERATION DESERT 
                                 SHIELD

  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
joint resolution (H.J. Res. 3) approving the location of a memorial to 
commemorate and honor the members of the Armed Forces who served on 
active duty in support of Operation Desert Storm or Operation Desert 
Shield.
  The Clerk read the title of the joint resolution.
  The text of the joint resolution is as follows:

                              H.J. Res. 3

       Whereas subsection (b)(1) of section 8908 of title 40, 
     United States Code, provides that the location of a 
     commemorative work in the area depicted as ``Area I'' on the 
     map described in subsection (a) of that section shall be 
     deemed to be authorized only if approved by law not later 
     than 150 days after the date on which Congress is notified 
     that the subject of the commemorative work is of preeminent 
     historical and lasting significance to the United States;
       Whereas section 3093 of the Carl Levin and Howard P. 
     ``Buck'' McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
     Year 2015 (40 U.S.C. 8903 note; Public Law 113-291) 
     authorized the National Desert Storm Memorial Association to 
     establish a memorial in the District of Columbia to 
     commemorate and honor the members of the Armed Forces who 
     served on active duty in support of Operation Desert Storm or 
     Operation Desert Shield; and
       Whereas the Secretary of the Interior has notified Congress 
     of the determination of the Secretary of the Interior that 
     the subject of the memorial is of preeminent historical and 
     lasting significance to the United States and may be located 
     in Area I: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
     location of the commemorative work authorized by section 3093 
     of the Carl Levin and Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon National 
     Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (40 U.S.C. 
     8903 note; Public Law 113-291) to commemorate and honor the 
     members of the Armed Forces who served on active duty in 
     support of Operation Desert Storm or Operation Desert Shield, 
     within Area I, as depicted on the map described in section 
     8908(a) of title 40, United States Code, is approved.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McClintock) and the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. 
Tsongas) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous materials on the joint resolution under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.J. Res. 3 by Congressman Roe of Tennessee authorizes 
the National Desert Storm War Memorial Association to consider sites 
along or near the National Mall for a memorial to honor the members of 
Armed Forces who served on Active Duty in support of Operation Desert 
Storm or Operation Desert Shield.
  Under the Commemorative Works Act, any memorial proposed to be 
located on Federal land along or near the National Mall must be 
approved by Congress after the Secretary of the Interior determines 
that the proposed work is ``of preeminent historical and lasting 
significance to the United States.''
  The Secretary of the Interior has recommended that the Desert Storm 
War Memorial Association be authorized to consider sites in Area I for 
the memorial, and this resolution would provide Congress' approval of 
the Secretary's recommendation. Congress provided initial authorization 
for the Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial in 2014, and the 
memorial is to be funded solely by private donations.
  History will no doubt continue to debate the political decisions that 
stopped our forces before they reached Baghdad, but it has already 
recorded and judged the effectiveness, the heroism, and the devotion of 
our Armed Forces and their commanders in the field who utterly 
vanquished the largest army in the Middle East in just 100 hours and 
who liberated the people of Kuwait from a hideous and sadistic 
occupation.
  This memorial will do more than honor the 382 Americans who gave 
their lives in the gulf war and ensure that they will not be forgotten. 
After all, as Lincoln said at Gettysburg:

       The honor they earned on the battlefield cannot be added to 
     or detracted by us, and long after our words are forgotten, 
     their deeds will be remembered and celebrated.

  But this monument will also remind future generations at home and 
abroad, friend and foe, of what American Armed Forces can do to rescue 
and protect the weak, and vanquish and punish the guilty, when 
competently commanded in the field and backed by the full resolve of 
the American people in a righteous cause.
  I urge adoption of the measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. TSONGAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, following the invasion and occupation of Kuwait by Iraqi 
leader Saddam Hussein, the United States and the international 
community demanded the immediate withdrawal of Iraqi forces under the 
threat of military action. After Saddam Hussein defied calls to 
withdraw from Kuwait, the United States, along with a broad coalition 
of European, regional, and global allies, began Operation Desert 
Shield, followed by Operation Desert Storm, a 100-hour land war which 
expelled the Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
  Approximately 700,000 members of the American Armed Forces served as 
part of Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield. Of those, 
293 died in theater and 148 were killed in action.
  The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act authorized the National 
Desert Storm and Desert Shield War Memorial Association to establish a 
memorial as a commemorative work on Federal land in the District of 
Columbia. This honors the members of the American Armed Forces who 
served and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in support of our 
country.
  The joint resolution before us today approves the general location of 
the memorial so that it is in close proximity to the National Mall and 
other nationally significant war memorials, as determined by the 
Secretary of the Interior.
  This resolution is an opportunity for the country to come together 
and thank the servicemembers who fought in the Gulf, those whose lives 
have been forever changed by their experience in this war, and those 
who did not return.
  I support this resolution, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe), the author of this measure.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. McClintock for 
yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this very important 
procedural measure to site the memorial to honor the men and women who 
served and died in Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield in Area I 
of the National Mall.

[[Page H63]]

  On August 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and, in less than 24 
hours, dominated nearly 30 percent of the world's oil supply, swiftly 
setting his sights on neighboring Saudi Arabia. Recognizing Saudi 
Arabia's importance to the region, President George Herbert Walker Bush 
launched Operation Desert Shield, the deployment of American combat 
forces to Saudi Arabia, and ordered Saddam Hussein to remove Iraqi 
troops from Kuwait by January 15, 1991. With Kuwait still occupied 
after the deadline passed, over half a million United States armed 
services members led coalition forces in the liberation of Kuwait--
Operation Desert Storm.
  Of the roughly 600,000 American troops who were deployed in both 
Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, 294 died in theater, of which 
148 were killed in action. The United States currently lacks a 
national memorial dedicated to the valor and sacrifices made by those 
members of our Armed Forces who fought honorably in Operation Desert 
Shield and Desert Storm.

  Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that no Federal funds will be 
spent to build this memorial. All funds will be raised privately by the 
National Desert Storm War Memorial Association. We must honor the men 
and women who fought honorably and valiantly in support of these 
operations and memorialize those who gave a life to free another.
  The establishment of this memorial was authorized in the National 
Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2015. Passing this resolution 
is simply the next step in the process for site selection. The 
Secretary of the Interior has confirmed the historical value of the 
proposed memorial and deemed it worthy of being constructed in Area I 
of Washington, D.C., which includes the areas around other monuments to 
great American heroism.
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, many of us in this Congress know many of 
the people who served in Desert Storm and Desert Shield, many personal 
friends of mine did, and many paid the ultimate sacrifice. It is time 
now we honor those heroes of this country.
  Ms. TSONGAS. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the joint resolution, H.J. Res. 3.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the joint resolution was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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