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106TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 106–583

DISABLED VETERANS’ LIFE MEMORIAL

APRIL 13, 2000.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of

the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources,

submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H.R. 1509]

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill

(H.R. 1509) to authorize the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Memorial

Foundation to establish a memorial in the District of Columbia or

its environs to honor veterans who became disabled while serving

in the Armed Forces of the United States, having considered the

same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 1509 is to authorize the Disabled Veterans’

LIFE Memorial Foundation to establish a memorial in the District

of Columbia or its environs to honor veterans who became disabled

while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States.

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

H.R. 1509 authorizes the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Memorial

Foundation to establish a memorial in the District of Columbia or

its environs to honor veterans who became disabled while serving

in the Armed Forces of the United States. Veterans who are disabled make up a significant portion of all the veterans who have

served in the Armed Forces in defense of the United States. In fact,

there are nearly 2.3 million disabled veterans in America today

who have fought in foreign conflicts and wars including 770 from

World War I and even 13 Americans disabled in the Mexican Border War against Pancho Villa. Although these men and women veterans are honored on Memorial and Veterans Days, there is no speVerDate 20-MAR-2000 22:05 Apr 17, 2000 Jkt 079006 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR583.XXX pfrm01 PsN: HR583
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cific memorial of commemoration to those veterans who were disabled during these conflicts.

H.R. 1509 ensures that establishment of the memorial will be in

compliance with the Commemorative Works Act and that no federal funds will be used to pay for any expense of the establishment

for the memorial. The LIFE Memorial Foundation would be responsible for raising money for and the payment of expenses of establishing the memorial.

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1509 was introduced on April 21, 1999, by Congressman

Sam Johnson (R–TX). The bill was referred to the Committee on

Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands. On October 26, 1999, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On March 23, 2000 the Subcommittee met to consider the bill. No amendments were offered

and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the Full Committee

by voice vote. On April 5, 2000, the Full Resources Committee met

to consider the bill. No amendments were offered and the bill was

ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by voice

vote.

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, credit authority, or an increase

or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office, enactment of this bill could affect direct

spending by less than $500,000 annually due to the deposit (and

subsequent spending) of privately-raised maintenance funds for the

memorial under the Commemorative Works Act.

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 recVerDate 20-MAR-2000 22:05 Apr 17, 2000 Jkt 079006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR583.XXX pfrm01 PsN: HR583
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ommendations 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, April 11, 2000.

Hon. DON YOUNG,

Chairman, Committee on Resources,

U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1509, a bill to authorize

the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Memorial Foundation to establish a

memorial in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor veterans who became disabled while serving in the armed forces of the

United States.

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.

Sincerely,

BARRY B. ANDERSON

(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).

Enclosure.

H.R. 1509—A bill to authorize the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Memorial Foundation to establish a memorial in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor veterans who became disabled

while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1509 would have no significant impact on the federal budget. Because the bill could affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. CBO estimates, however, that any such effects would be less than $500,000

annually. The bill 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.

H.R. 1509 would authorize the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Memorial Foundation to establish a memorial in accordance with the

Commemorative Works Act, and without the use of federal funds.

Under that act, any association that receives a permit to construct

a memorial in the District of Columbia or its environs must deposit

an amount equal to 10 percent of the memorial’s estimated construction cost in the U.S. Treasury. The funds deposited are then

available without further appropriation for maintenance and preservation of the memorial.

Based on information provided by the National Park Service

(NPS), CBO estimates that the federal government would receive

a deposit of less than $500,000. The NPS would spend a portion of

this amount each year to maintain the memorial. Based on the experience with similar commemorative projects, CBO expects that

no amounts would be received or spent by the federal government

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for several years after the bill is enacted. In any case, the collections and spending would offset each other over time.

On April 11, 2000, CBO prepared a cost estimate for S. 311, a

similar bill, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on April 5, 2000. The estimated costs

of the two bills are the same.

The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy 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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