[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 18, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1029]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 17, 2018

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 6147) making 
     appropriations for the Department of the Interior, 
     environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2019, and for other purposes:

  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Chair, I would like to thank Chairman Calvert 
for his great work on this bill, and my colleague Mr. Olson for his 
support of this amendment.
  My amendment would simply reduce the National Recreation and 
Preservation account by $20 million, and then increase it by the same 
amount with the intent of using these funds to increase the budget of 
the National Maritime Heritage grant program.
  This program provides federal funding for local and state operated 
maritime educational exhibits and preservation projects.
  The United States has a rich history of maritime excellence that has 
played an important role in the U.S. becoming the powerful nation that 
it is today.
  It is important that we preserve these great ships rather than let 
them fall into disrepair.
  It is an insult to their legacy to let them sink rather than help 
them stay afloat.
  For example, right outside my district back in Texas floats the 
Battleship Texas, the last great dreadnought.
  But maybe not for long.
  Growing up, I always looked forward to visiting the Battleship.
  My best friend and I would climb from top to bottom, firing every gun 
and squeezing down every port hole.
  When commissioned in 1914 she was the most powerful war ship the 
world had ever seen.
  She was the first of her kind to mount anti-aircraft guns, use 
commercial radar, and launch an aircraft.
  As the flagship of the U.S. fleet, she battered the Nazi defenses 
during the D-Day invasion at Normandy and also helped the invasions of 
Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
  Then, at the end of the war, she made three trips to bring American 
servicemen back home.
  Today, she serves as a museum and a reminder of wars long past.
  Nearly 70 years after school children used nickels and dimes to pay 
for her move to her namesake state, here she still floats, but maybe 
not for long.
  The Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife has jurisdiction of the 
battle wagon, but state funding has been sporadic and federal funding 
non-existent.
  That is where this amendment comes into play.
  We owe it to the Texans who served to save the Battleship Texas.
  This battleship, like so many battlefields and sacred, historical 
landmarks across our country, is consecrated with the blood of 
Americans.
  Without the Texas, things might have gone a little bit differently 
for us at D-Day or in the Pacific Theater.
  And that's just the way it is.

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