[House Report 106-839]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     106-839

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



 
SENSE OF THE CONGRESS REGARDING THE NEED FOR CATALOGING AND MAINTAINING 
  PUBLIC MEMORIALS COMMEMORATING MILITARY CONFLICTS OF THE UNITED 
  STATES AND THE SERVICE OF INDIVIDUALS IN THE ARMED FORCES
                                _______
                                

 September 12, 2000.--Referred to the House Calendar 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. Con. Res. 345]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 345) expressing the sense 
of the Congress regarding the need for cataloging and 
maintaining public memorials commemorating military conflicts 
of the United States and the service of individuals in the 
Armed Forces, having considered the same report favorably 
thereon without amendment and recommend that the concurrent 
resolution be agreed to.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H. Con. Res. 345 is to express the sense of 
the Congress regarding the need for cataloging and maintaining 
public memorials commemorating military conflicts of the United 
States and the service of individuals in the Armed Forces.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H. Con. Res. 345 addresses the need to create a cataloged 
list of the many different public war memorials of the United 
States. Thousands of public memorials dealing with United 
States involvement in military conflicts exist throughout the 
world. However, there is no index or record as to their 
location nor is there a cataloged assessment as to their 
condition. Many of these memorials suffer from neglect, 
disrepair, or have been relocated or stored in facilities where 
they are not accessible to the public.
    Currently, the federal government monitors only those 
memorials that are federally-funded. There are, however, non-
profit organizations, such as Remembering Veterans Who Earned 
Their Stripes (RVETS, Inc.), that have undertaken self-funded 
programs in an attempt to catalog these memorials.
    H. Con. Res. 345 urges the Secretary of the Interior, 
acting through the National Park Service, to collect and 
maintain information on public memorials commemorating military 
conflicts of the United States. The resolution also urges a 
coordinated effort between the federal government and other 
entities like RVETS, Inc. in collecting and maintaining this 
information which would then be available to the public.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H. Con. Res. 345 was introduced by Congressman James Rogan 
(R-CA) on June 6, 2000. The bill was referred to the Committee 
on Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
National Parks and Public Lands. On July 26, 2000, the 
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee 
was discharged from further consideration by unanimous consent. 
No amendments were offered and the bill was ordered favorably 
reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent.

            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, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    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, September 7, 2000.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H. Con. Res. 345, 
expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the need for 
cataloging and maintaining public memorials commemorating 
military conflicts of the United States and the Service of 
individuals in the Armed Forces.
    If you wish further details of this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Barry Blom.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H. Con. Res. 345--Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the 
        need for cataloging and maintaining public memorials 
        commemorating military conflicts of the United States and the 
        service of individuals in the Armed Forces

    H. Con. Res. 345 expresses the sense of the Congress that 
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of 
the National Park Service, should collect and maintain 
information on public memorials commemorating military 
conflicts of the United States and the service of individuals 
in the armed forces. Because the concurrent resolution would 
urge but not require the Secretary to take certain actions, it 
would not necessarily result in additional costs to the federal 
government. If the Secretary were to collect and maintain such 
information in a database, CBO estimates that the effort would 
cost about $1 million over the next five years, subject to the 
availability of appropriated funds. Most of the information on 
the location of such memorials has already been collected, and 
the remaining effort would involve creating and maintaining a 
database. Pay-as-you go procedures would not apply to H. Con. 
Res. 345.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Barry Blom. This 
estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, 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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