[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19948-19950]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELD PRESERVATION ACT OF 2008

  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2933) to amend the American Battlefield Protection Act of 
1996 to extend the authorization for that Act, and for other purposes, 
as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2933

       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 ``Civil War Battlefield 
     Preservation Act of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION EXTENDED.

       The American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 
     469k) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (d)(7)(A), by striking ``fiscal years 
     2004 through 2008'' and inserting ``fiscal years 2009 through 
     2013''; and
       (2) by striking subsection (e).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Guam (Ms. Bordallo) and the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Guam.


                             General Leave

  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which 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 
gentlewoman from Guam?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, since its inception in 1996, the 
American battlefield protection program has provided grants for 
preserving endangered Civil War battlefields which are specifically not 
part of the National Park System.
  The program contains two components. The battlefield preservation 
grants program is designed to help State and local government, 
organizations and citizens protect battlefield sites. The battlefield 
acquisition grant program provides matching funds to help State and 
local governments acquire and preserve battlefield sites.
  Together, these grant programs have helped to protect more than 
15,000 acres at 72 Civil War battlefields and have leveraged $52 
million in non-Federal funding for battlefield protection. With 
enactment of H.R. 160, which was just considered, this program will be 
expanded to include Revolutionary War and War of 1812 sites, making the 
program even stronger.
  I commend our colleague, Representative Gary Miller of California, 
for his leadership on this issue and his commitment to historic 
preservation. This is a truly bipartisan measure with more than 100 
cosponsors from both parties. I ask my colleagues to support passage of 
this measure.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  The American Civil War captures the imagination of people like no 
other event in our history. In bookstores, most shelves in the history 
section are devoted to events of the 1860s. On weekends, battles are 
reenacted by serious hobbyists who strive for authenticity in costume, 
weaponry and skirmish details. Pictures of Lincoln are found in 
countless homes and classrooms, Confederate flags adorn pickup trucks, 
and the words of the Gettysburg Address are as familiar as the 23rd 
Psalm.
  As a nation, we clearly recognize the continuing importance of the 
War Between the States. So it is natural that we should try to find 
appropriate ways to keep safe the places where our great-grandfathers 
witnessed events so noble and so horrific.
  But since our country is about liberty rather than glorification of 
the state, we have to safeguard not just the hills and the mud on which 
they fought but also the freedoms for which they fought. Therefore, it 
would be tragic if we allow our well-meaning enthusiasm for protecting 
historic sites to result in programs that diminish the property rights 
of our fellow citizens. This bill has two important safeguards: First, 
a ``willing seller'' provision--and we need to make sure the seller's 
willingness is uncoerced. Second, a sunset provision on the program's 
funding authorization. The bill's sponsors are to be commended for 
including these safeguards.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, but I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. I at this time, Madam Speaker, yield 3 minutes 
to the gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell).
  Mr. CAMPBELL of California. I thank the gentleman from Alaska for 
yielding.
  There are no Civil War battlefield sites in California. There was one 
place where shots were fired near the Arizona border, but I do admit to 
having more than a passing interest in the study of and learning about 
the Civil War. I stand today strongly in favor of this bill. I can't 
tell you how many times I invoke the quotes or the deeds or the actions 
of politicians and generals and citizens from the Civil War and the 
Civil War era in giving us guidance and perspective on how we deal with 
some of our problems today.
  As we today and this week are facing a financial crisis which is not 
something that could ever even have been conceived in the Civil War but 
they certainly dealt with crises of their own. How they dealt with them 
and how they worked with them and the courage with which they faced 
them are instructive to all of us today.
  These battlefield sites bring that history alive. They remind us of 
the sacrifices that those who came before us made to give us what we 
have today, and they instruct us and teach us of the bravery and the 
courage and the principles upon which they stood and

[[Page 19949]]

how we can remember and call upon the same bravery and courage and 
principles today.
  As was said, this bill not only protects private property rights but 
also leverages a tremendous amount of private funds, largely private 
funds, that are collected from around the country to preserve these 
battlefield sites.
  Madam Speaker, again I stand in strong support of this bill, both for 
what the Civil War sites have done for us in the past and what they can 
continue to do to teach us in the future.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Madam Speaker, we have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Madam Speaker, I would like to make mention, and I 
think it is fitting that we are entertaining this bill today on what 
marks the 146th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
  Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, thank you for the 
opportunity to express the importance of H.R. 2933, a bill to 
reauthorize the Civil War Battlefields Preservation Program. I would 
like to thank Chairman Rahall and Ranking Member Young of the Committee 
on Natural Resources for shepherding this bill through their committee. 
Additionally, Chairman Grijalva and Ranking Member Bishop of the 
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, Public Lands must be 
recognized for their work preserving the American landscape for 
generations of future citizens to enjoy. Additionally, I would like to 
particularly thank everyone at the Civil War Battlefield Preservation 
Trust, especially their President, James Lighthizer, for all the work 
they have done bringing attention and awareness to the need for 
preservation. Without the Trust, hundreds of acres of land would likely 
be lost forever.
  Preservation of our Nation's Civil War Battlefields is an issue that 
I hold close to my heart and fresh in my mind. Without a physical link 
to the past, we are left with only a passing glimpse of who we are as a 
Nation.
  Our historic battlefields provide outdoor classrooms for visitors to 
recreate the history of heroes from generations come and gone. In 1993, 
the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission, a blue-ribbon panel was 
created by Congress to investigate the status of America's 
battlefields. The Commission reported that 384 Civil War battlefields 
were considered high priority and were in serious danger of 
destruction. The report concluded that almost 20 percent of the Civil 
War battlefields were lost or fragmented, 17 percent in poor condition, 
and 60 percent to have been lost or in imminent danger of being 
fragmented and lost as coherent historic sites. Congress recognized the 
need to safeguard the only living link to the ``War Between the 
States'' and in fiscal year 1999 a preservation program was financed 
for the first time.
  In 2002, I authored the bill that created the Civil War Battlefield 
Preservation Program. To date, this program has helped save more than 
15,000 acres in 14 States. The American Battlefield Protection Program, 
an arm of the National Park Service, manages and competitively awards 
the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program grants. Furthermore, 
this legislation will facilitate the creation of partnerships at the 
State and local level, encouraging the private sector to preserve, 
conserve, and enhance nationally significant Civil War battlefields.
  The program's 50/50 matching grants formula encourages both public 
and private sector investment in battlefield protection. Grants are 
directed to State and local governments for land acquisition only and 
are not issued to nonprofit or private groups. Grant money cannot be 
used for administrative costs or overhead.
  The grants are awarded based on five requirements: (1) The 
battlefield must be on the list of 384 priority sites determined by the 
Civil War Sites Advisory Commission; (2) The land must be outside the 
authorized boundaries of the National Park System, thus keeping the 
program from contributing to National Park Service maintenance costs; 
(3) Any land acquired with the assistance of the grant program may not 
be subsequently converted to a non-conservation use without the prior 
written permission of the Secretary of the Interior; (4) Any grant 
awarded must be supported by an appraisal of the property's value in 
accordance with federal standards for property appraisals; and (5) Any 
land acquired with the assistance of the grant program must be 
protected by a perpetual easement to ensure its preservation for future 
generations.
  The effect of this program and intent of this legislation is to 
preserve nationally significant Civil War battlefields through 
conservation and purchases of those battlefields from willing sellers 
at fair market value. Preservation of historic battlefields involves 
only willing sellers when properties become available, and since only 
willing sellers are involved in the transaction, all private property 
rights are preserved. There is absolutely no eminent domain authority 
associated with this program. Willing sellers are compensated at fair-
market value and the program allows preservation groups to compete with 
developers to buy land.
  Among the sites saved as a result of this program are historic 
properties at: Fort Donelson, Tennessee, where the Union scored its 
first major victory of the war and Union General Ulysses S. Grant 
earned the nickname ``Unconditional Surrender''; Antietam, Maryland, 
where 23,000 soldiers were killed, marking the bloodiest day in 
American history and leading to the issuance of the Emancipation 
Proclamation; and, Chancellorsville, Virginia, where a much smaller 
Confederate force defeated the larger Union force, while suffering the 
loss of the famed General Thomas ``Stonewall'' Jackson.
  Despite the progress, we still have more to do. Many sites have only 
been partially preserved and those that have no opportunity for 
acquisition run the risk of being lost forever. Only about 20 percent 
of the actual battlefields upon which the Civil War was fought are 
currently preserved. All of the rest of that hallowed ground is either 
unprotected or has already been destroyed.
  These battlefields offer a porthole to the past. The vivid imagery of 
an epic conflict can remind visitors of the struggles our country has 
gone through to preserve the banner of liberty and justice for all. 
Memorializing the conflict, Oliver Wendell Holmes said, ``We have 
shared the incommunicable experience of war. We felt, we still feel, 
the passion of life to its top. In our youths, our hearts were touched 
by fire.'' By preserving this Nation's historic Civil War Battlefields, 
we can give visitors a sense of what Mr. Holmes was talking about.
  Since fiscal year 1999, Congress has appropriated $36 million to 
preserve Civil War Battlefields and the White House included a $4 
million request for the program as part of its fiscal year 2009 budget. 
H.R. 2933 is a clean bill that would extend the authorization, from 
fiscal years 2009 through 2013 for battlefield preservation grants 
under the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2002. The program's 
necessity, and proof that the preservation of history is a bipartisan 
issue, is demonstrated by more than 100 cosponsors divided nearly 
equally between Republicans and Democrats. A companion bill, authored 
by Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, has already been approved by the 
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and enjoys widespread 
support in that chamber. I thank the Speaker and I respectfully request 
and urge you to support this legislation.
  Mr. BROWN of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge the 
passage of H.R. 2933, the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 
2007.
  H.R. 2933 was introduced by my good friend and colleague Congressman 
Gary Miller and I have paid special attention to this bill as it as 
made its way through the legislative process of the Committee on 
Natural Resources of which I am a member.
  H.R. 2933 is an important bill for the residents of coastal South 
Carolina and I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this 
legislation.
  The current Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program funds 
preservation and conservation efforts at many famous Civil War 
battlefields across the Nation. It is very important that we preserve 
these sites for future generations to observe and visit these sites 
that are so important to our Nation's history.
  Some of the more famous locations in my district include, Fort 
Sumter, the target of the first shots of the Civil War as well as the 
assault on Morris Island's Battery Wagner, which is the battle which 
inspired the Academy Award winning movie Glory.
  Other famous battles fought at Secessionville, Grimball's Landing, 
Simmon's Bluff and sites in and around the Charleston Harbor would also 
be eligible to receive funding for preservation and conservation.
  Madam Speaker, reauthorization of the Civil War Battlefield 
Preservation Program could not come at a better time. In just 3 years, 
America will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the 
Civil War.
  I know that in my district the planning has already started and many 
residents of coastal South Carolina are planning to observe this 
important date from where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.
  I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill as swift 
passage of H.R. 2933 would

[[Page 19950]]

help in the preparation, preservation and conservation of many of these 
hallowed sites in advance of this important anniversary.
  Ms. BORDALLO. I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2933, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the 
ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a 
quorum is not present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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