[House Report 106-583]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     106-583

======================================================================



 
                    DISABLED VETERANS' LIFE MEMORIAL

                                _______
                                

 April 13, 2000.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 1509]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 1509) to authorize the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial 
Foundation to establish a memorial in the District of Columbia 
or its environs to honor veterans who became disabled while 
serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, having 
considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment 
and recommend that the bill do pass.

                          purpose of the bill

    The purpose of H.R. 1509 is to authorize the Disabled 
Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation to establish a memorial in 
the District of Columbia or its environs to honor veterans who 
became disabled while serving in the Armed Forces of the United 
States.

                  background and need for legislation

    H.R. 1509 authorizes the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial 
Foundation to establish a memorial in the District of Columbia 
or its environs to honor veterans who became disabled while 
serving in the Armed Forces of the United States. Veterans who 
are disabled make up a significant portion of all the veterans 
who have served in the Armed Forces in defense of the United 
States. In fact, there are nearly 2.3 million disabled veterans 
in America today who have fought in foreign conflicts and wars 
including 770 from World War I and even 13 Americans disabled 
in the Mexican Border War against Pancho Villa. Although these 
men and women veterans are honored on Memorial and Veterans 
Days, there is no specific memorial of commemoration to those 
veterans who were disabled during these conflicts.
    H.R. 1509 ensures that establishment of the memorial will 
be in compliance with the Commemorative Works Act and that no 
federal funds will be used to pay for any expense of the 
establishment for the memorial. The LIFE Memorial Foundation 
would be responsible for raising money for and the payment of 
expenses of establishing the memorial.

                            committee action

    H.R. 1509 was introduced on April 21, 1999, by Congressman 
Sam Johnson (R-TX). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
National Parks and Public Lands. On October 26, 1999, the 
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On March 23, 2000 the 
Subcommittee met to consider the bill. No amendments were 
offered and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the Full 
Committee by voice vote. On April 5, 2000, the Full Resources 
Committee met to consider the bill. No amendments were offered 
and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of 
Representatives by voice vote.

            committee oversight findings and recommendations

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations 
are reflected in the body of this report.

                   constitutional authority statement

    Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United 
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.

                    compliance with house rule xiii

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) 
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when 
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted 
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
bill does not contain any new budget authority, credit 
authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax 
expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office, 
enactment of this bill could affect direct spending by less 
than $500,000 annually due to the deposit (and subsequent 
spending) of privately-raised maintenance funds for the 
memorial under the Commemorative Works Act.
    3. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause 
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee has received no report of 
oversight findings and recommendations from the Committee on 
Government Reform on this bill.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate 
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office.

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                    Washington, DC, April 11, 2000.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1509, a bill to 
authorize the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation to 
establish a memorial in the District of Columbia or its 
environs to honor veterans who became disabled while serving in 
the armed forces of the United States.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 1509--A bill to authorize the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial 
        Foundation to establish a memorial in the District of Columbia 
        or its environs to honor veterans who became disabled while 
        serving in the Armed Forces of the United States

    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1509 would have no 
significant impact on the federal budget. Because the bill 
could affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would 
apply. CBO estimates, however, that any such effects would be 
less than $500,000 annually. The bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets 
of state, local, or tribal governments.
    H.R. 1509 would authorize the Disabled Veterans' LIFE 
Memorial Foundation to establish a memorial in accordance with 
the Commemorative Works Act, and without the use of federal 
funds. Under that act, any association that receives a permit 
to construct a memorial in the District of Columbia or its 
environs must deposit an amount equal to 10 percent of the 
memorial's estimated construction cost in the U.S. Treasury. 
The funds deposited are then available without further 
appropriation for maintenance and preservation of the memorial.
    Based on information provided by the National Park Service 
(NPS), CBO estimates that the federal government would receive 
a deposit of less than $500,000. The NPS would spend a portion 
of this amount each year to maintain the memorial. Based on the 
experience with similar commemorative projects, CBO expects 
that no amounts would be received or spent by the federal 
government for several years after the bill is enacted. In any 
case, the collections and spending would offset each other over 
time.
    On April 11, 2000, CBO prepared a cost estimate for S. 311, 
a similar bill, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources on April 5, 2000. The estimated 
costs of the two bills are the same.
    The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis. This estimate was 
approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for 
Budget Analysis.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

               PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL, OR TRIBAL LAW

    This bill is not intended to preempt State, local, or 
tribal law.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                                
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