I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5056 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Defense, and the 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs to inventory Confederate commemorative 

works on certain Federal lands, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2018 

Mr. MCEACHIN (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. LEE, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. 

WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. BASS, 

Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, and Ms. 

WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees 

on Armed Services, and Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of 

Defense, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to inventory Confederate commemorative works on certain Federal lands, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Confederate Com3 memorative Works Inventory and Joint Resource Study 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The American Civil War was fought be8 tween 1861 and 1865. 

9 (2) As early as 1864, efforts were underway to 

10 preserve places that had been the location of pivotal 

11 battles during the Civil War, even before surrender 

12 occurred. 

13 (3) The National Park Service preserves 

14 unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and 

15 values of the National Park System for the enjoy16 ment, education, and inspiration of this and future 

17 generations, including sites dedicated to the inter18 pretation of the American Civil War. 

19 (4) The National Park Service, the Department 

20 of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense 

21 administer public lands that are responsible for Con22 federate commemorative works. 

23 (5) There are 147 national cemeteries in the 

24 United States. Fourteen are maintained by the De25 partment of the Interior, through the National Park 

26 Service. The Department of Veterans Affairs, 


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1 through the National Cemetery Administration, ad2 ministers 131 cemeteries. The Department of De3 fense, through the Army, administers 2 cemeteries. 

4 (6) The Department of Defense has jurisdiction 

5 over— 

6 (A) 10 major United States military instal7 lations named in honor of Confederate military 

8 leaders; and 

9 (B) Navy ships named after Confederate 

10 victories. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

12 For the purposes of this Act: 

13 (1) CONFEDERATE COMMEMORATIVE WORK.— 

14 The term ‘‘Confederate commemorative work’’— 

15 (A) means any work that mentions individ16 uals or units who participated or served in the 

17 advancement of Confederate efforts; and 

18 (B) includes the Confederate flag and any 

19 other symbols or signage that honors the Con20 federacy, including any monument, statue, or 

21 plaque that honors a Confederate leader, sol22 dier, or supporter of the Confederate States of 

23 America. 

24 (2) CONFEDERATE FLAG.—The term ‘‘Confed25 erate flag’’— 


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1 (A) means the national flag of the Confed2 eracy from 1861 through 1865; and 

3 (B) includes the Stars and Bars, the 

4 Stainless Banner, the Blood-Stained Banner, 

5 the Confederate States Navy flag, the battle 

6 flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, any 

7 State or regimental flag as such flag was de8 picted during 1861–1865, and modern rep9 resentations of the Confederate battle flag. 

10 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

11 the Director of the National Park Service. 

12 (4) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec13 retary concerned’’ means the Secretary of the Inte14 rior, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of 

15 Veterans Affairs, each in reference to Federal land 

16 under the jurisdiction of that Secretary. 

17 SEC. 4. INVENTORY AND RESOURCE STUDY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each Secretary concerned shall— 

19 (1) conduct a full inventory of Confederate 

20 commemorative works under the administrative ju21 risdiction of that Secretary; and 

22 (2) submit a copy of that inventory to the Di23 rector. 


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1 (b) CONTENTS OF STUDY.—Using the inventories re2 ceived pursuant to subsection (a), the Director shall con3 duct a special resource study that— 

4 (1) examines works, commemorating and inter5 preting the Civil War, the commemoration thereof, 

6 the soldiers, people on the home front and battle 

7 lines, and the related locations in the United States 

8 from 1861 through 1865; and 

9 (2) identifies— 

10 (A) a historical assessment, based on ex11 tensive research, of each inventoried Confed12 erate commemorative work; 

13 (B) an evaluation of the suitability and 

14 feasibility of retaining the Confederate com15 memorative work; 

16 (C) the identification of properties that 

17 could meet criteria for listing in the National 

18 Register of Historic Places or criteria for des19 ignation as National Historic Landmarks or if 

20 the Confederate commemorative work is already 

21 on the or part of, another designation or dis22 trict; 

23 (D) an evaluation of relevant historical re24 search on, education about, interpretation of, 


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1 and public awareness of the Confederate com2 memorative work; and 

3 (E) any other matters that the Director 

4 determines to be appropriate for this study. 

5 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after funds are 

6 made available for the study, the Secretary of the Interior 

7 shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of 

8 the House of Representatives and the Committee on En9 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report con10 taining the findings of the study required under subsection 

11 (b) and any related recommendations. 

Æ 


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