19–006 

112TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 112–368 

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL PRAYER ACT OF 2011 

JANUARY 18, 2012.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, from the Committee on Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 2070] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 2070) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to install in 

the area of the World War II Memorial in the District of Columbia 

a suitable plaque or an inscription with the words that President 

Franklin D. Roosevelt prayed with the Nation on June 6, 1944, the 

morning of D-Day, 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 ‘‘World War II Memorial Prayer Act of 2011’’. 

SEC. 2. PLACEMENT OF PLAQUE OR INSCRIPTION AT WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL. 

The Secretary of the Interior— 

(1) shall install in the area of the World War II Memorial in the District of 

Columbia a suitable plaque or an inscription with the words that President 

Franklin D. Roosevelt prayed with the Nation on June 6, 1944, the morning of 

D-Day; 

(2) shall design, procure, prepare, and install the plaque or inscription referred to in paragraph (1); and 

(3) may not use Federal funds to prepare or install the plaque or inscription 

referred to in paragraph (1), but may accept and expend private contributions 

for this purpose. 

SEC. 3. COMMEMORATIVE WORKS ACT. 

Chapter 89 of title 40, United States Code, (commonly known as the ‘‘Commemorative Works Act’’) shall not apply to this Act. 


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PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 2070, as ordered reported, is to direct the 

Secretary of the Interior to install in the area of the World War II 

Memorial in the District of Columbia a suitable plaque or an inscription with the words that President Franklin D. Roosevelt 

prayed with the Nation on June 6, 1944, the morning of D-Day. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, honors the service of 16 million members of the Armed Forces of the United States 

of America, the support of countless millions on the home front, 

and the ultimate sacrifice of 405,399 Americans. On May 29, 2004, 

a four-day reunion of veterans on the National Mall culminated in 

the dedication of the memorial. 

In recent years there has been some controversy regarding the 

omission of the phrase ‘‘so help us God’’ in an inscription with an 

excerpt of President Roosevelt’s address to Congress following the 

bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Park Service responded with the explanation that the phrase was excluded because it was not spoken 

at the point in the address from which the excerpt was derived. 

H.R. 2070 directs the Secretary of the Interior to install in the 

area of the World War II Memorial in the District of Columbia a 

suitable plaque or an inscription with the words that President 

Franklin D. Roosevelt prayed with the Nation on June 6, 1944, the 

morning of D-Day. President Roosevelt’s address included a prayer: 

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of 

our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial 

arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our 

sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace— 

a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And 

a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just 

rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. 

Amen. 

During markup, the Natural Resources Committee adopted an 

amendment offered by Congressman Bill Johnson (R–OH) to prohibit the use of Federal funds for the project, but allowing the Secretary of the Interior to accept and spend donations. Additionally, 

because of the limited scope and scale of the proposal, the Commemorative Works Act will not apply to H.R. 2070. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 2070 was introduced on June 1, 2011, by Congressman Bill 

Johnson (R–OH). The bill was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 

National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. On November 3, 2011, 

the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On November 17, 

2011, the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The 

Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands was 

discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman Bill Johnson offered amendment designated .011 to the bill; the amendment was 

adopted by unanimous consent. The bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent. 


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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. 2070—World War II Memorial Prayer Act of 2011 

H.R. 2070 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to install 

within the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., an inscription of the words President Roosevelt prayed with the nation on 

June 6, 1944. The legislation would direct the Secretary to design, 

procure, and install the inscription; however, federal funds could 

not be used to prepare or install the inscription. Under the bill, the 

proposed addition to the memorial would be exempt from the requirements of the Commemorative Works Act (CWA). 

CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would have no 

significant impact on the federal budget. Based on information 

from the NPS, CBO estimates that the cost to maintain the inscription would be insignificant. Enacting H.R. 2070 would affect direct 

spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO 

estimates that the net effects of receiving and spending donated 

funds would be insignificant in each year. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Martin von Gnechten. 

The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy 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, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 

CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would have no 

significant impact on the Federal budget. Based on information 

from the National Park Service, CBO estimates that the cost to 

maintain the inscription would be insignificant. Enacting the bill 

would affect direct spending, but CBO estimates that the net effect 

of receiving and spending donations would be insignificant in each 

year. 

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, as ordered reported, is to direct the Secretary of the InVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:06 Jan 19, 2012 Jkt 019006 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR368.XXX HR368

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terior to install in the area of the World War II Memorial in the 

District of Columbia a suitable plaque or an inscription with the 

words that President Franklin D. Roosevelt prayed with the Nation 

on June 6, 1944, the morning of D-Day. 

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. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

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

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

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

Æ 


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