99–006 

112TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 112–156 

WAR MEMORIAL PROTECTION ACT 

JULY 20, 2011.—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. 290] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 290) 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 without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 290 is to amend title 36, United States 

Code, to ensure that memorials commemorating the service of the 

United States Armed Forces may contain religious symbols. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

H.R. 290 would allow the inclusion of religious symbols as part 

of military monuments. This bill was introduced shortly after the 

9th Circuit Court of Appeals found the Mt. 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 Mt. 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. 


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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 Mt. 

Soledad situation, its purpose is to statutorily protect religious 

symbols in all war memorials. 

Section 2 of the legislation states that inclusion of religious symbols is authorized to recognize the religious background of members 

of the United States Armed Forces. 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. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 290, the War Memorial Protection Act, was introduced on 

January 12, 2011, by Congressman Duncan Hunter (R–CA). 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 May 4, 2011, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On May 25, 2011, the Full Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on National 

Parks, Forests and Public Lands was discharged by unanimous 

consent. No amendments were offered, and the bill was 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: 


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H.R. 290—War Memorial Protection Act 

H.R. 290 would allow religious symbols 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, religious symbols are not barred from being 

used in any military memorials; thus, H.R. 290 would codify current practice. According to the Department of Defense, the National Park Service, and the ABMC, implementing H.R. 290 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 

costs associated with implementing H.R. 290. 

Enacting H.R. 290 would not affect direct spending or revenues; 

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

H.R. 290 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 A. 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 there would be no costs associated with implementing H.R. 290. Enacting H.R. 290 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does not 

authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the 

rules of the House of Representatives does not apply. 

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 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 religious symbols as part of military memorials. 

* * * * * * * 

§ 2115. Inclusion of religious symbols as part of military memorials 

(a) INCLUSION OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS AUTHORIZED.—To recognize the religious background of members of the United States 

Armed Forces, religious symbols 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) MILITARY MEMORIAL DEFINED.—In this section, 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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