[House Report 114-433]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


114th Congress   }                                        {     Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session      }                                        {    114-433

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



 
      KOREAN WAR VETERANS MEMORIAL WALL OF REMEMBRANCE ACT OF 2016

                                _______
                                

 February 24, 2016.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted 
                             the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 1475]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 1475) to authorize a Wall of Remembrance as part 
of the Korean War Veterans Memorial and to allow certain 
private contributions to fund that Wall of Remembrance, having 
considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment 
and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of 
Remembrance Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. WALL OF REMEMBRANCE.

  Section 1 of the Act titled ``An Act to authorize the erection of a 
memorial on Federal Land in the District of Columbia and its environs 
to honor members of the Armed Forces of the United States who served in 
the Korean War'', approved October 25, 1986 (Public Law 99-572), is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Such memorial shall include a Wall of Remembrance, which shall be 
constructed without the use of Federal funds. The American Battle 
Monuments Commission shall request and consider design recommendations 
from the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation, Inc. for the 
establishment of the Wall of Remembrance. The Wall of Remembrance shall 
include--
          ``(1) a list by name of members of the Armed Forces of the 
        United States who died in theatre in the Korean War;
          ``(2) the number of members of the Armed Forces of the United 
        States who, in regards to the Korean War--
                  ``(A) were wounded in action;
                  ``(B) are listed as missing in action; or
                  ``(C) were prisoners of war; and
          ``(3) the number of members of the Korean Augmentation to the 
        United States Army, the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, and the 
        other nations of the United Nations Command who, in regards to 
        the Korean War--
                  ``(A) were killed in action;
                  ``(B) were wounded in action;
                  ``(C) are listed as missing in action; or
                  ``(D) were prisoners of war.''.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of H.R. 1475 is to authorize a wall of 
Remembrance as part of the Korean War Veterans Memorial and to 
allow certain private contributions to fund that Wall of 
Remembrance.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    The Korean War Veterans Memorial is located near the 
Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The 
Memorial falls within an area known as the Reserve. Congress 
created the Reserve in November 2003 (by Public Law 108-126) to 
prohibit the addition of future memorials within the area.
    The Korean War Veterans Memorial commemorates the 
sacrifices of 5.8 million Americans world-wide who served in 
the U.S. armed services during the three-year period of the 
Korean War. The Memorial also recognizes the participation of 
the 22 nations who served as United Nations contributors. 
During the Korean War's duration (June 25, 1950-July 27, 1953) 
54,246 Americans died world-wide. Of these, 8,200 are listed as 
missing in action, lost or buried at sea. An additional 103,284 
were wounded during the conflict.
    As ordered reported, H.R. 1475 authorizes the Korean War 
Veterans Memorial Foundation to add a Wall of Remembrance with 
the names of those that died in theatre, are listed as missing, 
or prisoners of war. It would also list the number of Korean 
Augmentation to the U.S. Army, the Republic of Korea Armed 
Forces and other United Nations Command who were killed, 
wounded, missing, or prisoners. The Wall of Remembrance 
authorized by H.R. 1475 would be an unbroken semi-circle of 
glass panels seven feet high, allowing full visibility to the 
rest of the Mall. The Wall of Remembrance will be financed 
solely through non-governmental funds.
    H.R. 1475, at the time of markup, had 264 bipartisan 
cosponsors. Congressman Sam Johnson (R-TX), the bill's sponsor, 
is one of three Korean War Veterans remaining in the House. 
Congressmen Charles Rangel and John Conyers, Jr., the other two 
Korean War Veterans serving in the House, are both original 
cosponsors of H.R. 1475.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 1475 was introduced on March 19, 2015, by Congressman 
Sam Johnson (R-TX). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 
on Federal Lands. On February 2, 2016, the Natural Resources 
Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was 
discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman Tom McClintock (R-
CA) offered an amendment designated #1. The amendment was 
adopted by voice vote. No other amendments were offered, and 
the bill, as amended, was ordered favorably reported to the 
House of Representatives by voice vote on February 3, 2016.

            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 Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                    Compliance With House Rule XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) 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)(2)(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. 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:

H.R. 1475--Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance Act of 2016

    H.R. 1475 would authorize the expansion of the Korean War 
Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Under the bill, the 
memorial would be expanded to include a ``Wall of Remembrance'' 
that would commemorate U.S. and United Nations forces who were 
killed, wounded, found to be missing in action, or were taken 
as prisoners of war during the Korean War.
    Under the bill, construction of the project would be funded 
with private donations. However, the National Park Service 
(NPS) would be responsible for maintaining the addition once it 
is completed. Based on information from the NPS, CBO expects 
that the project will not be completed for a few years because 
funds are not currently sufficient to begin construction.
    CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would have 
an insignificant cost to the federal government over the 2017-
2021 period, mostly because maintenance costs would not be 
incurred until the memorial has been completed. Because 
enacting H.R. 1475 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1475 would not increase 
net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
    H.R. 1475 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.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Marin Burnett. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Assistant Director 
for Budget Analysis.
    2. Section 308(a) of 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. The Congressional 
Budget Office has concluded that enactment of the bill would 
have ``an insignificant cost to the federal government over the 
2017-2021 period''.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill is to authorize a wall of Remembrance as 
part of the Korean War Veterans Memorial and to allow certain 
private contributions to fund that Wall of Remembrance.

                           Earmark Statement

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                    Compliance With Public Law 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                       Compliance With H. Res. 5

    Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that 
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any 
specific rule-making proceedings.
    Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not 
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government 
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was 
not included in any report from the Government Accountability 
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139 
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program 
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law 
98-169) as relating to other programs.

                Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law

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

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

                           PUBLIC LAW 99-572


                       authorization of memorial

  Sec. 1. The American Battle Monuments Commission is 
authorized to establish a memorial on Federal land in the 
District of Columbia and its environs to honor members of the 
Armed Forces of the United States who served in the Korean war, 
particularly those who were killed in action, are still listed 
as missing in action, or were held as prisoners of war. Such 
memorial shall be established in accordance with the Act 
entitled ``An Act to provide standards for placement of 
commemorative works on certain Federal lands in the District of 
Columbia and its environs, and for other purposes'', approved 
November 14,1986 (40 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). Such memorial shall 
include a Wall of Remembrance, which shall be constructed 
without the use of Federal funds. The American Battle Monuments 
Commission shall request and consider design recommendations 
from the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation, Inc. for the 
establishment of the Wall of Remembrance. The Wall of 
Remembrance shall include--
          (1) a list by name of members of the Armed Forces of 
        the United States who died in theatre in the Korean 
        War;
          (2) the number of members of the Armed Forces of the 
        United States who, in regards to the Korean War--
                  (A) were wounded in action;
                  (B) are listed as missing in action; or
                  (C) were prisoners of war; and
          (3) the number of members of the Korean Augmentation 
        to the United States Army, the Republic of Korea Armed 
        Forces, and the other nations of the United Nations 
        Command who, in regards to the Korean War--
                  (A) were killed in action;
                  (B) were wounded in action;
                  (C) are listed as missing in action; or
                  (D) were prisoners of war.

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

    H.R. 1475 aims to authorize the construction of a ``Wall of 
Remembrance'' at the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
    While this bill has not had a hearing in the 114th 
Congress, similar legislation was reviewed by the House 
Committee on Natural Resources in the 112th and 113th 
Congresses. Both times it was reviewed, the National Park 
Service testified in opposition, outlining their concerns with 
legislatively mandating the construction of a new feature at 
the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
    Congress authorized the existing Korean War Veterans 
Memorial in 1986 and it was dedicated in 1995. The current 
memorial honors the service and sacrifice of all Americans who 
fought in the war and represents the 22 nations that 
participated as United Nations contributors. Adjacent to the 
Lincoln Memorial and across from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 
it is a solemn and powerful reminder of the sacrifice our 
soldiers made defending our ideals and security.
    When the memorial was designed and constructed by the 
American Battle Monuments Commissions and the Korean Veterans 
Memorial Advisory Board, the congressionally designated 
sponsors, building a wall of remembrance was carefully 
considered. There was a long, public design phase for the 
memorial. Replicating a wall similar to the Vietnam War 
Memorial was ultimately rejected and the current design was 
approved. During the construction of the Vietnam War Memorial, 
determining the list of names to include on the memorial caused 
a tremendous amount of heartache and grief. Because of this 
experience, a wall of remembrance was purposefully left out of 
the final design of the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
    Additionally, the memorial is located in an area of the 
National Mall known as the ``Reserve'', where Congress has 
prohibited the construction of any new memorial in order to 
preserve both open space and the original vision of the 
L'Enfant/McMillan plan. There is a real concern that opening 
the door to new construction in the Reserve will set a bad 
precedent for future proposals.
    Some view the construction of a ``Wall of Remembrance'' as 
a new memorial that will compete with and possibly detract from 
the current memorial. This is not a decision Congress should 
take lightly. The current memorial is featured amongst our most 
prominent memorials and is a beautiful, complete work of civic 
art. We should be wary of doing anything that could comprise 
its integrity.
            Sincerely,
                                          Raul M. Grijalva,
                    Ranking Member, Committee on Natural Resources.

                                  [all]