29–006 

113TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 113–140 

WAR MEMORIAL PROTECTION ACT 

JULY 8, 2013.—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. 1497] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1497) to amend title 36, United States Code, to ensure 

that memorials commemorating the service of the United States 

Armed Forces may contain religious symbols, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with 

amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. 

The amendments are as follows: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘War Memorial Protection Act’’. 

SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF EMBLEMS OF BELIEF AS PART OF MILITARY MEMORIALS. 

(a) AUTHORITY.—Chapter 21 of title 36, United States Code, is amended by adding 

at the end the following: 

‘‘§ 2115. Inclusion of emblems of belief as part of military memorials 

‘‘(a) AUTHORIZED INCLUSION.—For the purpose of honoring the sacrifices of members of the United States Armed Forces, including those members who make the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the United States, emblems of belief may be included 

as part of— 

‘‘(1) a military memorial that is established or acquired by the United States 

Government; or 

‘‘(2) a military memorial that is not established by the United States Government, but for which the American Battle Monuments Commission cooperated in 

the establishment of the memorial. 

‘‘(b) SCOPE OF INCLUSION.—When including emblems of belief as part of a military 

memorial, any approved emblem of belief may be included on such a memorial. The 

list of approved emblems of belief shall include, at a minimum, all those emblems 

of belief authorized by the National Cemetery Administration. 

‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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‘‘(1) The terms ‘emblem of belief’ and ‘emblems of belief’ refer to the emblems 

of belief contained on the list maintained by the National Cemetery Administration for placement on Government-provided headstones and markers. 

‘‘(2) The term ‘military memorial’ means a memorial or monument commemorating the service of the United States Armed Forces. The term includes works 

of architecture and art described in section 2105(b) of this title.’’. 

(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter 

is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘2115. Inclusion of emblems of belief as part of military memorials.’’. 

Amend the title to read: 

A bill to amend title 36, United States Code, to ensure that memorials commemorating the service of the United States Armed 

Forces may contain emblems of belief, and for other purposes. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 1497, as ordered reported, is to amend title 

36, United States Code, to ensure that memorials commemorating 

the service of the United States Armed Forces may contain emblems of belief. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

H.R. 1497 would allow the inclusion of religious symbols as part 

of military monuments. This legislation was originally introduced 

after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Mount 

Soledad Cross in La Jolla, California, violated the Constitution because it displayed a religious preference and was not solely a war 

memorial. 

In 1913, a 43-foot cross was placed on Mount Soledad in La Jolla, 

California. Starting in 1989, the City of San Diego was sued over 

the cross. The plaintiffs claimed a violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the California Constitution 

which bars the State or local government from using funds to assist 

religious sects or churches, or from showing preference to one religion over another. 

Several remedies were attempted over the years to avoid having 

the cross removed by order of the courts. These included transferring the property to a non-profit, for which San Diego was sued for 

showing a preference; and the federal government taking the land 

by eminent domain (the Department of Defense took possession of 

the property in 2006). Subsequently, the federal government was 

sued and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the cross unconstitutional in January 2011. 

While the legislation does not specifically address the Mount 

Soledad situation, its purpose is to statutorily protect religious 

symbols in all war memorials. 

Section 2 of the legislation states that inclusion of emblems of belief is authorized as part of a military memorial. These symbols 

may be included as part of a military memorial that is established 

or acquired by the United States Government; or a military memorial that is not established by the United States Government, but 

for which the American Battle Monuments Commission cooperated 

in the establishment of the memorial. 

During Full Committee consideration of H.R. 1497, Congressman 

Rob Bishop (R–UT) offered an amendment to conform the legislation to terminology used by the Department of Defense with reVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:36 Jul 09, 2013 Jkt 029006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR140.XXX HR140

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spect to religious symbols. The amendment was adopted by unanimous consent. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1497 was introduced on April 11, 2013, by Congressman 

Duncan Hunter (R–CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 

on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation. On June 6, 2013, 

the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation 

held a hearing on the bill. On June 12, 2013, the Full Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on 

Public Lands and Environmental Regulation was discharged by 

unanimous consent. Congressman Rob Bishop (R–UT) offered an 

amendment designated #1 to the bill; the amendment was adopted 

by unanimous consent. The bill, as amended, was then adopted and 

ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by 

unanimous consent. 

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. 1497—War Memorial Protection Act 

H.R. 1497 would allow emblems of belief to be included as part 

of any military monument established or acquired by the U.S. government or military memorials established in cooperation with the 

American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). 

Under current law, emblems of belief are not barred from any 

military memorials and have been allowed in a number of instances; thus, H.R. 1497 would codify current practice. According to 

the Department of Defense, the National Park Service, and the 

ABMC, implementing H.R. 1497 would not require any new memorials to be built or current memorials to be changed. On that basis, 

CBO estimates that there would be no federal costs associated with 

implementing H.R. 1497. 

Enacting H.R. 1497 would not affect direct spending or revenues; 

therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 


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H.R. 1497 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 Dwayne M. Wright. 

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, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or 

tax expenditures. CBO estimates that there would be no federal 

costs associated with implementing H.R. 1497. 

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 amend title 36, United States 

Code, to ensure that memorials commemorating the service of the 

United States Armed Forces may contain emblems of belief. 

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): 

TITLE 36, UNITED STATES CODE 

* * * * * * * 


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SUBTITLE I—PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL 

OBSERVANCES AND CEREMONIES 

* * * * * * * 

PART B—UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED WITH OBSERVANCES AND CEREMONIES 

* * * * * * * 

CHAPTER 21—AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS 

COMMISSION 

Sec. 

2101. Membership. 

* * * * * * * 

2115. Inclusion of emblems of belief as part of military memorials. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 2115. INCLUSION OF EMBLEMS OF BELIEF AS PART OF MILITARY 

MEMORIALS 

(a) AUTHORIZED INCLUSION.—For the purpose of honoring the sacrifices of members of the United States Armed Forces, including 

those members who make the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the 

United States, emblems of belief may be included as part of— 

(1) a military memorial that is established or acquired by the 

United States Government; or 

(2) a military memorial that is not established by the United 

States Government, but for which the American Battle Monuments Commission cooperated in the establishment of the memorial. 

(b) SCOPE OF INCLUSION.—When including emblems of belief as 

part of a military memorial, any approved emblem of belief may be 

included on such a memorial. The list of approved emblems of belief 

shall include, at a minimum, all those emblems of belief authorized 

by the National Cemetery Administration. 

(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

(1) The terms ‘‘emblem of belief’’ and ‘‘emblems of belief’’ refer 

to the emblems of belief contained on the list maintained by the 

National Cemetery Administration for placement on Government-provided headstones and markers. 

(2) The term ‘‘military memorial’’ means a memorial or 

monument commemorating the service of the United States 

Armed Forces. The term includes works of architecture and art 

described in section 2105(b) of this title. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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