I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1762

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for preservation and 

protection of historic buildings under the jurisdiction of the Secretary 

of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2003

Mr. TURNER of Ohio introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for preservation and protection of historic buildings under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for 

other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans National 

5 Heritage Preservation Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to provide for the preserva3 tion and protection of the most historically significant 

4 buildings of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to pro5 vide for the documentation and appreciation of the historic 

6 significance of those buildings, and to increase public un7 derstanding of the Nation’s long commitment to honoring 

8 veterans. 

9 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

10 The Congress finds the following: 

11 (1) One of the last Acts signed by President 

12 Lincoln before his assassination in 1865 established 

13 the National Asylum for disabled volunteer soldiers 

14 and sailors of the Civil War (renamed the National 

15 Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in 1873 and 

16 often referred to as the National Military Home). 

17 (2) The National Home eventually expanded to 

18 comprise ten branches and one sanatorium in Togus, 

19 Maine (1866); Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1867); Day20 ton, Ohio (1867); Hampton, Virginia (1870); Leav21 enworth, Kansas (1885); Santa Monica, California 

22 (1888); Marion, Indiana (1888); Danville, Illinois 

23 (1898); Johnson City, Tennessee (1901); Hot 

24 Springs, South Dakota (1902); and Bath, New York 

25 (1929). 
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1 (3) Until it was combined with the Veterans 

2 Bureau to become the United States Veterans Ad3 ministration in 1930, the National Home cared for 

4 more than 100,000 Civil War and other veterans, 

5 many of whom were shattered physically and spir6 itually from the carnage of war. 

7 (4) The National Home evolved into complete 

8 planned communities with barracks, mess halls, gate 

9 houses, chapels, schools, hotels, libraries, band 

10 stands, amusements halls, theaters, shops, and other 

11 structures, many of which still stand, and include 

12 outstanding examples of 19th and early 20th cen13 tury architecture. 

14 (5) The National Home is an important part of 

15 the Nation’s history, representing many historical 

16 developments, including the Nation’s first non-reli17 gious planned communities, the first Federal effort 

18 to establish large-scale rehabilitation programs, a 

19 significant expansion of Federal benefits to citizen20 veterans, a landmark in the development of Federal 

21 responsibility for the social safety net, and the first 

22 permanent churches constructed by the Federal Gov23 ernment. 

24 (6) The branches of the National Home made 

25 significant contributions to the history, identity, and 
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1 culture of the communities in which they are lo2 cated. 

3 (7) The Department of Veterans Affairs has ju4 risdiction over about 1,680 historic buildings in 

5 nearly every State of the Union. 

6 (8) Preservation of historic buildings under the 

7 jurisdiction of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

8 contributes to the heritage of all Americans and rep9 resents a powerful symbol of the national debt to the 

10 Nation’s war veterans. 

11 (9) Partnerships between the Department of 

12 Veterans Affairs, other Federal agencies, and State 

13 and local governments and nonprofit organizations 

14 have the potential to help restore, maintain, inter15 pret, and reuse the historic buildings under the ju16 risdiction of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

17 (10) The veterans service organizations 

18 AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed 

19 Veterans of America, and Veterans of Foreign Wars 

20 jointly support establishing historic preservation as a 

21 responsibility of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 

22 systematically preserving the Department’s most im23 portant historic buildings, and reducing legal, ad24 ministrative, and financial barriers to adaptive reuse 

25 of historic properties by local communities. 
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1 (11) More than 100 historic buildings under the 

2 jurisdiction of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 

3 including the Nation’s first permanent church build4 ing constructed by the Federal Government, are un5 derutilized or vacant and are threatened with dete6 rioration and demolition. 

7 (12) Providing for the Department of Veterans 

8 Affairs’ historic preservation requirements in no way 

9 need diminish funding for the Department’s other 

10 missions and is fully consistent with the Depart11 ment’s broader goal of honoring and caring for the 

12 Nation’s veterans. 

13 TITLE I—PRESERVATION OF HIS14 TORIC FACILITIES OF THE 

15 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

16 AFFAIRS 

17 SEC. 101. DEFINITION. 

18 Section 101 of title 38, United States Code, is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following new para20 graph: 

21 ‘‘(34) The term ‘historic building’ means a building 

22 listed on, or eligible for listing on, the National Register 

23 of Historic Places.’’. 
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1 SEC. 102. MISSIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT TO INCLUDE HIS2 TORIC PRESERVATION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 38, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 117. Historic Preservation mission 

7 ‘‘(a) It is a mission and responsibility of the Depart8 ment to maintain its most significant historic buildings 

9 and to preserve them for future generations. 

10 ‘‘(b) It is the sense of Congress that, in keeping with 

11 the mission of the Department specified in subsection 

12 (a)—

13 ‘‘(1) wherever practical, the historic buildings of 

14 the Department should be preserved, protected, re15 stored, interpreted, reused, and maintained as a liv16 ing memorial to the contributions of veterans to the 

17 Nation; 

18 ‘‘(2) the director of each major Department fa19 cility that is listed on, or eligible for listing on, the 

20 National Register of Historic Places should—

21 ‘‘(A) make available to the cultural re22 sources management officer of that facility suf23 ficient resources to document, conserve, and 

24 display items of historical significance and as25 sist with the preservation of the history of the 

26 facility; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) provide that officer with appropriate 

2 information and sufficient training, appropriate 

3 publications, authority, and total access to 

4 budgetary, management, and decision making 

5 processes to permit effective coordination of its 

6 cultural resource management plan; 

7 ‘‘(3) whenever feasible, the Secretary should re8 store and use historic buildings, rather than carry 

9 out new construction, for Department purposes; 

10 ‘‘(4) the Secretary should make greater use of 

11 the leasing authority for historic buildings that is 

12 provided for Federal agencies under section 111 of 

13 the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

14 470h–3); 

15 ‘‘(5) the Secretary should reduce barriers to 

16 reuse of historic buildings by non-Department pri17 vate and public organizations if such reuse would en18 hance historic preservation of those buildings; 

19 ‘‘(6) the Secretary should work with the Sec20 retary of the Interior to coordinate historic preserva21 tion activities of the Department; and 

22 ‘‘(7) the Secretary should form a partnership 

23 with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 

24 within the context of the Capital Asset Realignment 

25 for Enhancement of Services (CARES) process of 
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1 the Department, to ensure the appropriate, lawful, 

2 and financially prudent management of the Depart3 ment’s historic properties, similar to the partnership 

4 formed between the Department of the Army and 

5 the Trust.’’. 

6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

7 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following new item:

‘‘117. Historic preservation mission.’’.

9 SEC. 103. OFFICE OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of title 38, United 

11 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing new section: 

13 ‘‘§ 320. Office of Historic Preservation 

14 ‘‘(a) There is in the Department an Office of Historic 

15 Preservation within the Office of the Secretary or other16 wise at a sufficiently high level within the departmental 

17 organization to ensure adequate communication with all 

18 relevant divisions within the Department. There shall be 

19 at the head of the Office a Director. 

20 ‘‘(b) The Director shall administer the Veterans Her21 itage Preservation Fund established under section 8701 

22 of this title. 

23 ‘‘(c) The Director shall develop procedures to ensure 

24 that decisions within the Department that affect or may 

25 affect historic buildings, properties, and cultural resources 
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1 of the Department are made in accordance with Depart2 ment directives and applicable laws and regulations. 

3 ‘‘(d) The Director shall ensure that the head of each 

4 Department facility that is listed on, or eligible for listing 

5 on, the National Register of Historic Places and the head 

6 of each regional office and each major program manager 

7 of the Department designates a cultural resource manage8 ment officer with training in historic preservation and 

9 compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act 

10 (40 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). 

11 ‘‘(e) The Director shall review Department activities, 

12 policies, and procedures that might affect historic build13 ings, properties, and cultural resources, including review 

14 of initiatives through the Capital Asset Realignment for 

15 Enhancement of Services (CARES) program of the De16 partment. 

17 ‘‘(f) The Director shall maintain a comprehensive in18 ventory of the Department’s historic buildings, properties, 

19 and cultural resources and shall forward to the Secretary 

20 of the Interior nominations of such buildings, properties, 

21 and cultural resources for inclusion in the National Reg22 ister of Historic Places. 

23 ‘‘(g) The Director shall assure the Department’s 

24 compliance with section 106 of the National Historic Pres25 ervation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470f).’’. 
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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

3 at the end the following new item:

‘‘320. Office of Historic Preservation.’’.

4 SEC. 104. VETERANS HERITAGE PRESERVATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Part IV of title 38, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new chapter: 

8 ‘‘CHAPTER 87—HISTORIC PRESERVATION

‘‘8701. Veterans Heritage Preservation Fund. 

‘‘8702. Public-private partnerships.

9 ‘‘§ 8701. Veterans Heritage Preservation Fund 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab11 lish a fund to be known as the ‘Veterans Heritage Preser12 vation Fund’. The Director of the Office of Historic Pres13 ervation, in consultation with the Department’s facility di14 rectors, shall make recommendations to the Secretary on 

15 the use of the assets of the fund. In making such rec16 ommendations, the Director shall take into consideration 

17 the priority order ranking specified in the report under 

18 section 106 of the Veterans National Preservation Herit19 age Act of 2003. 

20 ‘‘(b) USES OF FUND.—The Secretary may use bal21 ances in the fund to—

22 ‘‘(1) evaluate, stabilize, preserve, renovate, and 

23 restore historic buildings and properties owned by 
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1 the Department in conformity with applicable statu2 tory and regulatory standards for historic preserva3 tion; 

4 ‘‘(2) assist in the maintenance and preservation 

5 of the Department’s historic artifacts and collec6 tions; and 

7 ‘‘(3) make grants to State and local govern8 ments and non-profit organizations in connection 

9 with the adaptive reuse of historic buildings. 

10 ‘‘(c) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—(1) A grant under 

11 subsection (b)(3) may be used by the grant recipient for 

12 studies, planning, construction, management, marketing, 

13 interpretation, promoting cultural tourism, and oper14 ations. 

15 ‘‘(2) Such a grant may provide funds for not more 

16 than 75 percent of a project’s cost, with the remainder 

17 to be provided as a non-Federal match. 

18 ‘‘(3) In selecting recipients for grants under sub19 section (b)(3), the Secretary may establish a higher pri20 ority for proposed projects that would benefit veterans, in21 cluding homeless veterans, or that would honor the 

22 achievements of veterans. 

23 ‘‘(d) INCOME FROM RENTAL PROPERTY.—Income or 

24 proceeds from the rental of historic properties at facilities 

25 of the Department, including quarters rented by Depart-
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1 ment personnel or other persons, shall be credited to, and 

2 form a part of, the Fund. In allocating amounts to De3 partment facilities under subsection (b)(1) that are de4 rived from income or proceeds from rental property, the 

5 Secretary shall provide funds to those facilities based upon 

6 the amount of funds credited under the preceding sentence 

7 from properties at those facilities, subject to availability 

8 of approved projects for the use of such funds. 

9 ‘‘(e) DONATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to ac10 cept donations for the purposes of the Fund. Any such 

11 amount shall be credited to, and form a part of, the Fund. 

12 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 is authorized to be appropriated to the Veterans Heritage 

14 Preservation Fund for each fiscal year the amount of 

15 $20,000,000.’’. 

16 ‘‘§ 8702. Public-private partnerships 

17 ‘‘(a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary 

18 may enter into cooperative agreements and leases with 

19 State and local governments, nongovernmental organiza20 tions, and the Secretary of the Interior for the purpose 

21 of restoring, rehabilitating, maintaining, interpreting, pro22 moting, and marketing historic buildings. 

23 ‘‘(b) DONATIONS.—The Secretary may accept dona24 tions for the purpose of implementing a partnership under 

25 this section. 
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1 ‘‘(c) COLLABORATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF THE

2 INTERIOR.—The Secretary may collaborate with, and 

3 enter into agreements with, the Secretary of the Interior 

4 and Interior-related agencies, including units of the Na5 tional Park Service and Federally-designated national her6 itage areas, for the purposes of this chapter.’’. 

7 SEC. 105. ENHANCED-USE LEASES. 

8 Section 8162(a) of title 38, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new para10 graph: 

11 ‘‘(5) In light of the statement in section 117(a) of 

12 this title that it is a mission and responsibility of the De13 partment to maintain its most significant historic build14 ings and to preserve them for future generations, historic 

15 preservation shall be considered to be a Department mis16 sion for the purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(i) and any pro17 posed enhanced-use lease that includes or incorporates 

18 preservation and restoration of the building proposed to 

19 be leased shall be considered to be a veterans related pur20 pose lease for purpose of priorities for the awarding of 

21 leases under this section.’’. 

22 SEC. 106. PRESERVATION STUDY AND REPORT. 

23 (a) STUDY AND REPORT.—The Secretary of Veterans 

24 Affairs shall conduct a study of the historic buildings of 

25 the Department of Veterans Affairs and, not later than 
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1 February 1, 2005, shall submit to the Committees on Vet2 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives 

3 a report on the results of that study. 

4 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report under sub5 section (a) shall include the following: 

6 (1) A detailed inventory of historic buildings 

7 and sites under the jurisdiction of the Department 

8 of Veterans Affairs, together with a description of 

9 the historical significance of each such building or 

10 site. 

11 (2) Identification of the most important historic 

12 buildings and sites named under paragraph (1) and, 

13 for each such building or site—

14 (A) a description of potential threats to the 

15 preservation of the building or site; 

16 (B) a cost analysis for restoration of the 

17 building or site; and 

18 (C) a comprehensive structural engineering 

19 analysis of the building or site. 

20 (3) Ranking of the priority order of such build21 ings and sites for restoration, taking into consider22 ation historical significance, reuse potential, preser23 vation threat, and organized community support. 

24 (4) An action plan for the stabilization and 

25 preservation of the buildings and sites identified 
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1 under paragraph (2) that the Secretary determines 

2 to be the most threatened. 

3 (c) CONSULTATION.—In preparing the report under 

4 subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with the Sec5 retary of the Interior and with State and local govern6 mental agencies and appropriate local private non-profit 

7 organizations in the communities of the historic buildings. 

8 (d) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

9 term ‘‘historic building’’ means a building listed on, or eli10 gible for listing on, the National Register of Historic 

11 Places. 

12 TITLE II—NATIONAL HISTORIC 

13 LANDMARK THEME STUDY 

14 SEC. 201. AUTHORIZATION OF STUDY. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior, in 

16 consultation and cooperation with the Secretary of Vet17 erans Affairs, shall conduct a National Historic Landmark 

18 theme study to identify sites, districts, buildings, struc19 tures, and landscapes that best illustrate or commemorate 

20 key events at facilities managed by the National Home 

21 for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and the United States 

22 Veterans Bureau between 1865 and 1930. 

23 (b) SITES TO BE STUDIED.—The sites to be studied 

24 under this section are the branches of the former National 
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1 Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and associated enti2 ties at the following locations: 

3 (1) Togus, Maine. 

4 (2) Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

5 (3) Dayton, Ohio. 

6 (4) Hampton, Virginia. 

7 (5) Leavenworth, Kansas. 

8 (6) Santa Monica, California. 

9 (7) Marion, Illinois. 

10 (8) Danville, Illinois. 

11 (9) Johnston City, Tennessee. 

12 (10) Hot Springs, South Dakota. 

13 (11) Bath, New York. 

14 (c) CRITERIA; NOMINATIONS.—In conducting the 

15 study under this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall 

16 use the criteria set forth in section 65.4 of title 36, Code 

17 of Federal Regulations, to identify, in order of importance 

18 or merit, potential National Historic Landmarks at the 

19 locations listed in subsection (b). The study shall include 

20 a nomination submittal for each potential National His21 toric Landmark identified under this subsection that 

22 meets such criteria. 

23 (d) EDUCATION AND RESEARCH.—The study shall—
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1 (1) identify appropriate means to maximize op2 portunities for public education on the National 

3 Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers; and 

4 (2) recommend opportunities for cooperative ar5 rangements with State and local governments, edu6 cational institutions, local historical organizations, 

7 and other entities to preserve and interpret key cul8 tural resources at or associated with the locations 

9 listed in subsection (b). 

10 (e) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary of 

11 the Interior may enter into cooperative agreements with 

12 one or more educational institutions, public history organi13 zations, or veterans’ organizations knowledgeable about 

14 the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers to pre15 pare the study under subsection (a) and to ensure that 

16 the study meets scholarly standards. 

17 (f) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 

18 on which funds are made available for the study under 

19 subsection (a), the Secretary of the Interior shall submit 

20 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and 

21 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 

22 Committee on Resources and the Committee on Veterans’ 

23 Affairs of the House of Representatives a report con-
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1 taining the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of 

2 the study.

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