79–010 

Calendar No. 360 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 115–216 

ADMIRAL LLOYD R. ‘‘JOE’’ VASEY PACIFIC WAR 

COMMEMORATIVE DISPLAY ESTABLISHMENT ACT 

MARCH 21, 2018.—Ordered to be printed 

Ms. MURKOWSKI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 4300] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (H.R. 4300) to authorize Pacific Historic Parks to 

establish a commemorative display to honor members of the United 

States Armed Forces who served in the Pacific Theater of World 

War II, and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that 

the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of H.R. 4300 is to authorize the Pacific Historic 

Parks to establish a commemorative display to honor members of 

the United States Armed Forces who served in the Pacific Theater 

of World War II. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

President George W. Bush established the World War II Valor in 

the Pacific National Monument by proclamation under the Antiquities Act on December 5, 2008. The Monument includes the USS 

Arizona Memorial and Visitor Center, the USS Utah Memorial, the 

USS Oklahoma Memorial, and other sites at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; 

three sites in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, and the Tule Lake Segregation Center National Historic Landmark in California. The 

Monument was established to preserve these sites associated with 

important aspects of World War II in the Pacific and to ‘‘present 

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interpretive opportunities and programs for visitors to better understand and honor the sacrifices borne by the Greatest Generation, and tell the story from Pearl Harbor to Peace.’’ In addition, 

the USS Missouri Memorial Association preserves the USS Missouri, the battleship on which the Empire of Japan surrendered, 

ending World War II. 

H.R. 4300 supports the purposes of the World War II Valor in 

the Pacific National Monument by authorizing Pacific Historic 

Parks, a nonprofit organization that works with the National Park 

Service in support of the USS Arizona Memorial and other National Park units in the Pacific, to establish a commemorative display at a suitable location at Pearl Harbor to honor the members 

of the United States Armed Forces and its allies who served in the 

Pacific Theater during World War II. 

The commemorative display would tell the story of the U.S. service members who fought alongside allied service members on land, 

in the air, and at sea throughout the Pacific Theater during World 

War II. The commemorative display would also educate the public 

on the role of the Pacific War, and provide a place for loved ones 

to mourn those who were lost. The design and establishment of the 

commemorative display would be carried out, in coordination with 

the National Park Service (NPS) and the Pacific Historic Parks, a 

non-profit whose sole mission is to support NPS throughout the Pacific region. 

The legislation is needed to authorize Pacific Historic Parks to locate the commemorative display on National Park Service-managed 

property. 

The commemorative display proposed by the legislation would be 

named after Admiral Joe Vasey, who recently passed away at the 

age of 101. Admiral Vasey dedicated his life to promoting peace 

throughout the Pacific. He served aboard the USS Gunnel, under 

Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., father of Senator John McCain, in 

the Pacific Theater during World War II. He also founded the Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonprofit foreign policy research institute focused on the Asia-Pacific 

region. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

H.R. 4300 was introduced in the House of Representatives by 

Rep. Hanabusa on November 8, 2017 and referred to the House 

Committee on Natural Resources. H.R. 4300 was reported by the 

House Committee on Natural Resources (H. Rept. 115–450) on December 6, 2017, and passed the House of Representatives by voice 

vote on December 7, 2017. 

A companion measure, S. 2213, was introduced by Senators 

Hirono and Schatz on December 7, 2017. The Senate Subcommittee 

on National Parks conducted a hearing on S. 2213 and H.R. 4300 

on February 14, 2018. 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 

business session on March 8, 2018, and ordered S. 2213 and H.R. 

4300 favorably reported. 

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COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 

open business session on March 8, 2018, by a majority voice vote 

of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 4300. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

Section 1 contains the short title. 

Section 2. Definitions 

Section 2 contains key definitions. 

Section 3. Purposes 

Section 3 outlines three purposes of the legislation: (1) honoring 

members of the U.S. Armed Forces who fought on behalf of the 

United States in the Pacific Theater during World War II; (2) providing a place to mourn the lives of American and Allied lives lost 

in the Pacific Theater during World War II; and (3) educating the 

public about U.S. battles in the Pacific Theater and its role in 

World War II. 

Section 4. Pacific Theater commemorative display 

Section 4(a) authorizes the Pacific Historic Parks, a cooperating 

association with the National Park Service, to establish and maintain a commemorative display to honor the members of the United 

States Armed Forces and Allies who served in the Pacific Theater 

during World War II. 

Subsection (b) prohibits the use of Federal funds for the design, 

procurement, preparation, installation, or maintenance of the commemorative display, but authorizes the NPS Director to accept and 

expend contributions of non-Federal funds and resources for such 

purposes. 

Subsection (c) authorizes the Director to allow the commemorative display to be established at a suitable location at the Pearl 

Harbor site of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National 

Monument in Honolulu, Hawaii. This subsection further prohibits 

the establishment of the commemorative display at any location 

under the Director’s jurisdiction until the Director determines that 

an assured source of non-Federal funding has been established for 

the design, procurement, installation, and maintenance of the commemorative display. 

Subsection (d) specifies that the final design of the commemorative display shall be subject to the approval of the Director. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of the costs of this measure has been provided by the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 4300 would authorize the Pacific Historic Parks, a nonprofit 

organization, to establish a memorial at the Pearl Harbor site of 

the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument located 

in Honolulu, Hawaii, to commemorate members of the armed forces 

who fought in the Pacific Theater during World War II. The act 

would prohibit the use of federal funds to design, install, or maintain the memorial. 

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Under H.R. 4300, the final design of the memorial would be subject to the approval of the National Park Service (NPS). On the 

basis of the cost of similar activities, CBO estimates that any administrative costs incurred by NPS to approve the memorial design 

would be insignificant; any such spending would be subject to the 

availability of appropriated funds. 

Enacting H.R. 4300 could affect direct spending; therefore, payas-you-go procedures apply. The act would authorize NPS to accept 

donations, which would be recorded in the budget as offsetting receipts (or reductions in direct spending), and to spend them without further appropriation action to establish the memorial. Because 

CBO expects that any donation received by NPS would be offset by 

an expenditure soon thereafter, we estimate that the net effect on 

direct spending would be negligible. Enacting H.R. 4300 would not 

affect revenues. 

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4300 would not increase net 

direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 

10-year periods beginning in 2028. 

H.R. 4300 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

On January 19, 2018, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 

4300, the Admiral Lloyd R. ‘Joe’ Vasey Pacific War Commemorative Display Establishment Act, as passed by the House of Representatives on December 7, 2017. On March 16, 2018, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 2213, the Admiral Lloyd R. ‘Joe’ Vasey 

Pacific War Commemorative Display Establishment Act, as ordered 

reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on March 8, 2018. The pieces of legislation are similar, and 

CBO’s estimates of their budgetary effects are the same. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Janani Shankaran. 

The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

H.R. 4300. The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing Government-established standards or significant economic 

responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

No personal information would be collected in administering the 

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of H.R. 4300, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

H.R. 4300, as ordered reported, does not contain any congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 

benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at the 

February 14, 2018, hearing on H.R. 4300 follows: 

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STATEMENT OF P. DANIEL SMITH, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, EXERCISING THE AUTHORITY OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

BEFORE THE SENATE ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES

SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, CONCERNING H.R. 

4300 AND S. 2213, BILLS TO AUTHORIZE PACIFIC HISTORIC PARKS TO ESTABLISH A COMMEMORATIVE DISPLAY

TO HONOR MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED

FORCES WHO SERVED IN THE PACIFIC THEATER OF

WORLD WAR II 

Chairman Daines, Ranking Member King, and members 

of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to 

present the Department of the Interior’s views on H.R. 

4300 and S. 2213, bills to authorize Pacific Historic Parks 

to establish a commemorative display to honor members of 

the United States Armed Forces who served in the Pacific 

Theater of World War II, and for other purposes. 

The Department supports this legislation and recommends a technical amendment. The two bills, which are 

virtually identical, would allow the organization named 

Pacific Historic Parks to establish and maintain a commemorative display at the Pearl Harbor site of the World 

War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. The display would honor the members of the United States Armed 

Forces and allies who served in the Pacific Theater during 

World War II. 

The legislation prohibits the use of federal funds to design, procure, prepare, install, and maintain the commemorative display, but allows the National Park Service 

to accept and expend contributions of non-federal funds 

and resources for such purposes. It also prohibits the establishment of the commemorative display on National 

Park Service-managed property until the National Park 

Service determines that there is an assured source of nonfederal funding for the design, procurement, installation, 

and maintenance of the display. 

The World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, home of the USS Arizona Memorial, receives nearly 

two million visitors each year who come to learn about and 

to pay their respects to those who gave their lives in the 

attack on the island of Oahu. The monument interprets 

not only the events of December 7, 1941, but also the 

world events leading up to the attack and events that followed, including the many battles across the Pacific Theatre that occurred after the United States entered World 

War II. The National Park Service believes that the commemorative display authorized in this legislation would be 

consistent with the mission and interpretive themes explored at the monument. 

The Department recommends that the language in Section 4 be clarified to reflect the fact that authority is needed for the Pacific Historic Parks organization to establish 

a commemorative display on National Park Service-managed property, not for establishing the display itself. We 

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would like to work with the sponsor and the committee on 

clarifying language. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be 

pleased to answer any questions you or other members of 

the Subcommittee may have. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no changes in existing law are made by the bill as ordered reported. 

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