I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4328 

To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make grants for the 

rehabilitation of World War I memorials. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2017 

Ms. GABBARD (for herself, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. HANABUSA, Ms. JAYAPAL, and 

Mr. POE of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make 

grants for the rehabilitation of World War I memorials. 

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 cited as the ‘‘Honoring World War I 

5 Memorials Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 

9 (1) From 2014 through 2018, the United 

10 States and nations around the world mark the cenVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Nov 15, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4328.IH H4328

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1 tennial of World War I, including the entry of the 

2 United States into the war in April 1917. 

3 (2) The United States entry into the war 

4 marked the first time in the history of the United 

5 States that American soldiers went abroad in de6 fense of liberty against foreign aggression and it 

7 marked the true beginning of the ‘‘American Cen8 tury’’. 

9 (3) More than 4,000,000 men and women from 

10 the United States served in uniform during World 

11 War I and the United States suffered 375,000 cas12 ualties, including 116,516 deaths. 

13 (4) In 2013, the World War I Centennial Com14 mission Act was signed into law with a stated goal 

15 of ensuring ‘‘a suitable observance of the centennial 

16 of World War I’’. 

17 (5) Part of the Centennial Commission’s stated 

18 mission is to ‘‘bring attention to the thousands of 

19 World War I memorials in communities across the 

20 country that honor Americans who served in the 

21 war’’. 

22 (6) The Centennial Commission has found that 

23 ‘‘across the country there are local World War I me24 morials in thousands of cities and towns that are 

25 forgotten and in disrepair’’. 


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1 (7) The Centennial Commission has found suf2 ficient cause to establish a matching grant program 

3 in recognition of the importance of rehabilitating 

4 World War I memorials. However, the grant amount 

5 of $2,000 is too low for the needs of many memo6 rials. 

7 (8) The Centennial Commission recognizes that 

8 restoring World War I memorials honors those who 

9 served and raises awareness of this momentous event 

10 in the Nation’s history. 

11 SEC. 3. WORLD WAR I MEMORIAL REHABILITATION GRANT 

12 PROGRAM. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 

14 Affairs shall make grants to eligible entities for the pur15 pose of rehabilitating World War I memorials. 

16 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible for a grant 

17 under this section, an entity shall— 

18 (1) be a nonprofit organization or a State or 

19 local government entity that owns or manages a 

20 World War I memorial; and 

21 (2) submit to the Secretary an application con22 taining such information and assurances as the Sec23 retary may require, including a description of the re24 habilitation project for which the entity seeks a 

25 grant under this section. 


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1 (c) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.—In selecting 

2 recipients of grants under this section, the Secretary shall 

3 prioritize, in descending order, the following: 

4 (1) Entities seeking grants to rehabilitate 

5 World War I memorials listed on the National Reg6 ister of Historic Places. 

7 (2) Entities seeking grants to rehabilitate 

8 World War I memorials listed on a State register of 

9 historic places. 

10 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—The recipient of a grant under 

11 this section shall use the grant to rehabilitate a World 

12 War I memorial. 

13 (e) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—Each grant provided under 

14 this section shall be in an amount that does not exceed 

15 $15,000,000, and 50 percent of the cost of the rehabilita16 tion project described in the application submitted by the 

17 eligible entity to which the grant is provided. 

18 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

19 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans 

20 Affairs $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2018 to make grants 

21 under this section. Amounts appropriated pursuant to 

22 such authorization of appropriations shall remain available 

23 until expended. 

24 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) The term ‘‘rehabilitate’’ means, with respect 

2 to a memorial, to repair, reconstruct, restore, refur3 bish, or clean up the memorial consistent with the 

4 Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treat5 ment of Historic Properties (36 C.F.R. 68) and ap6 plicable guidelines. 

7 (2) The term ‘‘World War I memorial’’ means 

8 a memorial that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

9 determines is dedicated to the memory of those who 

10 served in World War I, and does not include any 

11 memorial to members of the Armed Forces serving 

12 in multiple wars. 

Æ 


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