[Senate Report 105-40]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                        Calendar No. 98
105th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE

 1st Session                                                     105-40
_______________________________________________________________________


 
                     NATIONAL PEACE GARDEN MEMORIAL

                                _______
                                

                 June 26, 1997.--Ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


  Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 731]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 731) to extend the legislative authority 
for construction of the National Peace Garden memorial, and for 
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill, do 
pass.

                         purpose of the measure

    The purpose of S. 731 is to extend the legislative 
authority for the construction of the National Peace Garden 
Memorial for five additional years, through June 30, 2002.

                          background and need

    In 1987, Congress enacted Public Law 100-63, which 
authorized the National Peace Garden Foundation, a non-profit 
organization, to construct the National Peace Garden in 
Washington D.C. on a site to be determined by the Secretary of 
the Interior ``to honor the commitment of the people of the 
United States to world peace.'' In 1988, the National Park 
Service designated a 10-acres site on Hains Point as the 
location for the memorial.
    Section 8 of the Commemorative Works Act requires the 
Secretary of the Interior, prior to issuing a construction 
permit for a memorial or monument, to make a determination 
that: (1) the location and design of the memorial have been 
approved by the Secretary, the National Capital Planning 
Commission, and the Commission on Fine Arts; and (2) that the 
organization authorized to construct the memorial has raised 
the necessary funds to complete construction, along with an 
additional 10 percent to be used for maintenance endowment 
fund.
    After numerous design changes, the final design for the 
Peace Garden was approved by the appropriate agencies in 1993. 
However, the Foundation has yet to raise most of the estimated 
$13 million required to complete construction, as well as the 
$1.3 million for the maintenance fund. However, the Foundation 
has recently added several members to its Board of Directors 
with fund-raising expertise and is currently implementing a 
major fundraising campaign.
    Section 10(b) of the Commemorative Works Act provides that 
the legislative authority to construct a memorial shall expire 
7 years after the date the memorial was authorized. In 1994, 
Congress extended the legislative authority for the Peace 
Garden and two other memorials through June 30, 1997. S. 731 
would extend the legislative authority for the Peace Garden 
through 2002.

                          legislative history

    S. 731 was introduced by Senator Bumpers on May 8, 1997. 
The Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic Preservation and 
Recreation held a hearing on the bill on May 21, 1997. Senator 
Coverdell was added as a cosponsor on June 3, 1997.
    At the business meeting on June 11, 1997, the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 731 favorably reported 
without amendment.

           committee recommendations and tabulation of votes

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on June 12, 1997, by a unanimous vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 731 without 
amendment.
    The rollcall vote on reporting the measure was 20 yeas, 0 
nays, as follows:
        YEAS                          NAYS
Mr. Murkowski
Mr. Domenici
Mr. Nickles
Mr. Craig
Mr. Campbell
Mr. Thomas
Mr. Kyl
Mr. Grams
Mr. Smith
Mr. Gorton
Mr. Burns\1\
Mr. Bumpers
Mr. Ford
Mr. Bingaman\1\
Mr. Akaka\1\
Mr. Dorgan\1\
Mr. Graham\1\
Mr. Wyden
Mr. Johnson\1\
Mrs. Landrieu

    \1\ Indicates voted by proxy.

                           summary of s. 731

    S. 731 extends the legislative authority for the National 
Peace Garden through June 30, 2002.

                   cost and budgetary considerations

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.

S. 731--A bill to extend the legislative authority for construction of 
        the National Peace Garden memorial, and for other purposes

    CBO estimates that enacting S. 731 would have no effect on 
the federal budget. Because the bill would not affect direct 
spending or receipts, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. 
S. 731 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates 
as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 and 
would have no impact on the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    S. 731 would extend the authority to construct the National 
Peace Garden until June 30, 2002. The extension would provide 
an additional five years for the private sponsors of the site 
to obtain the necessary financing and building permits. In 
1994, the deadline for the site was extended from June 30, 
1994, to June 30, 1997. Because the memorial is to be 
constructed with private funds, extending the construction 
authority would have no impact on the federal budget.
    The CBO contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. This 
estimate was approved by Paul N. Van de Water, Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                      regulatory impact evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 731. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals 
and businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 731, as ordered reported.

                        executive communications

    On May 21, 1997, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of 
the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting 
forth Executive agency recommendations on S. 731. These reports 
had not been received at the time the report on S. 731 was 
filed. When these reports become available, the Chairman will 
request that they be printed in the Congressional Record for 
the advice of the Senate. The testimony of the Department of 
the Interior at the Subcommittee hearing follows:


  statement of kate stevenson, associate director, cultural resource 
stewardship and partnerships, national park service, department of the 
                                interior


    Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before 
your committee to provide the views of the Department of the 
Interior on S. 731, a bill to extend the legislative authority 
for construction of the National Peace Garden memorial.
    We support the extension of the legislative authorities for 
the National Peace Garden memorial. S. 731 would grant a five-
year extension for construction of the National Peace Garden 
memorial.
National peace parden pemorial
    The establishment of the National Peace Garden memorial was 
authorized in 1987 by P.L. 100-63. The memorial will be 
constructed on Federal land in the District of Columbia to 
honor the commitment of the people of the United States to 
world peace. The garden will provide an interpretation of the 
experience of peace in the environment of a garden which will 
offer visitors the experience of reflecting on the condition 
and ways of achieving peace. By its prominence among the 
memorials in our Nation's Capital, which represent our 
commitment to freedom and democracy, the National Peace Garden 
will affirm our identity as a nation committed to peace.
Commemorative Works Act
    We would like to take this opportunity to address the need 
to amend the Commemorative Works Act as it deals with the 
sunset clause.
    Establishing a sunset clause for memorial projects has been 
a requirement of the Congress for more than 100 years. Sunset 
periods were traditionally set for periods of duration between 
3 and 7 years. Amending the sunset clause of the Commemorative 
Works Act would aid the Congress in its consideration of 
individual extensions for memorial authorities. In 1994 three 
memorial groups sought extensions of their individual 
authorizations, and the Commemorative Works Act was amended.
    The bills before you are the result of economic, 
procedural, or organizational situations that are not uncommon 
to the sixteen authorized groups who have been involved in the 
standardized requirements for constructing memorials on 
Federal, open-space property managed by the National Park 
Service.
    Six organizations completed their projects within their 
legislative authorities. A seventh organization, formed to 
construct The Memorial to Women in Military Service for 
America, began construction within its individually extended 
ten-year timeframe. Between 1992 and 1997, six organizations 
have been developing memorial projects under the seven-year 
authorization provision.
    Granting individual extensions of time to memorial 
organizations at varying stages in the process and for 
different time periods has led to confusion and inconsistency. 
Such decisions are disruptive to an orderly process and the 
public's understanding of the organization's need for donations 
to support these projects.
    Each group seeking to erect a memorial conducts a planning 
process to identify and receive approvals for its site and a 
design process of creation, development, and approval. They 
must establish financial targets and fundraising programs and 
develop construction documents and contracting commitments. All 
these actions are necessary to bring a memorial to the point of 
construction within seven years.
    Once a group has an approved site for a proposed memorial, 
the National Park Service reserves that location only for that 
memorial during the Congressionally authorized period. The 
first legislative authorities established under the 
Commemorative Works Act began to expire in 1993. While these 
sites might have been ideal for memorials authorized in later 
years, the National Park Service has not been free to offer 
them for consideration or study.
    We feel the Commemorative Works Act should provide a 
methodology for evaluating and granting extensions of 
legislative authorities. We feel the Act should be examined to 
determine standards or criteria to be added to the Act to aid 
the Congress in evaluating future legislative proposals. We 
respectfully offer that a review by the National Capital 
Memorial Commission with regard to these points, similar to the 
reports requested by the Committee in its consideration of the 
1991 and 1994 amendments to the Act, may be useful in future 
consideration of memorial authorities. The Commission is 
prepared to meet this summer to review the Act. Based on that 
review, the Administration may then propose draft legislation 
to amend the Act, including a possible amendment to address the 
issue of legislatively mandated time requirements.
    Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks. I would 
be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

                        changes in existing law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by S. 731, as ordered 
reported.