II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3688 

To preserve the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego, California, 

by providing for the immediate acquisition of the memorial by the United 

States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 19, 2006 

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To preserve the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San 

Diego, California, by providing for the immediate acquisition of the memorial by the United States. 

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) The Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial has 

6 proudly stood overlooking San Diego, California, for 

7 over 52 years as a tribute to the members of the 

8 United States Armed Forces who sacrificed their 

9 lives in the defense of the United States. 


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1 (2) The Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial was 

2 dedicated on April 18, 1954, as ‘‘a lasting memorial 

3 to the dead of the First and Second World Wars and 

4 the Korean conflict’’ and now serves as a memorial 

5 to American veterans of all wars, including the War 

6 on Terrorism. 

7 (3) The United States has a long history and 

8 tradition of memorializing members of the Armed 

9 Forces who die in battle with a cross or other reli10 gious emblem of their faith, and a memorial cross is 

11 fully integrated as the centerpiece of the multi-fac12 eted Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial that is replete 

13 with secular symbols. 

14 (4) The patriotic and inspirational symbolism of 

15 the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial provides solace 

16 to the families and comrades of the veterans it me17 morializes. 

18 (5) The Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial has 

19 been recognized by Congress as a National Veterans 

20 Memorial and is considered a historically significant 

21 national memorial. 

22 (6) 76 percent of the voters of San Diego sup23 ported donating the Mt. Soledad Memorial to the 

24 Federal Government only to have a superior court 


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1 judge of the State of California invalidate that elec2 tion. 

3 (7) The City of San Diego has diligently pur4 sued every possible legal recourse in order to pre5 serve the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in its en6 tirety for persons who have served in the Armed 

7 Forces and those persons who will serve and sac8 rifice in the future. 

9 (8) Congressional action is now necessary be10 cause the City of San Diego is under a district court 

11 order to remove the Memorial Cross from city prop12 erty by August 1, 2006. 

13 SEC. 2. ACQUISITION OF MT. SOLEDAD VETERANS MEMO14 RIAL, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA. 

15 (a) ACQUISITION.—To effectuate the purpose of sec16 tion 116 of division E of Public Law 108–447 (118 Stat. 

17 3346; 16 U.S.C. 431 note), which, in order to preserve 

18 a historically significant war memorial, designated the Mt. 

19 Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego, California, as 

20 a national memorial honoring veterans of the United 

21 States Armed Forces, there is hereby vested in the United 

22 States all right, title, and interest in and to, and the right 

23 to immediate possession of, the Mt. Soledad Veterans Me24 morial in San Diego, California, as more fully described 

25 in subsection (d). 


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1 (b) COMPENSATION.—The United States shall pay 

2 just compensation to any owner of the property for the 

3 property taken pursuant to this section, and the full faith 

4 and credit of the United States is hereby pledged to the 

5 payment of any judgment entered against the United 

6 States with respect to the taking of the property. Payment 

7 shall be in the amount of the agreed negotiated value of 

8 the property or the valuation of the property awarded by 

9 judgment and shall be made from the permanent judg10 ment appropriation established pursuant to section 1304 

11 of title 31, United States Code. If the parties do not reach 

12 a negotiated settlement within one year after the date of 

13 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense may 

14 initiate a proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction 

15 to determine the just compensation with respect to the 

16 taking of such property. 

17 (c) MAINTENANCE.—Upon acquisition of the Mt. 

18 Soledad Veterans Memorial by the United States, the Sec19 retary of Defense shall manage the property and shall 

20 enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Mt. 

21 Soledad Memorial Association for the continued mainte22 nance of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial by the Asso23 ciation. 

24 (d) LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—The Mt. Soledad Vet25 erans Memorial referred to in this section is all that porVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:47 Jul 21, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3688.IS S3688

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1 tion of Pueblo lot 1265 of the Pueblo Lands of San Diego 

2 in the City and County of San Diego, California, according 

3 to the map thereof prepared by James Pascoe in 1879, 

4 a copy of which was filed in the office of the County Re5 corder of San Diego County on November 14, 1921, and 

6 is known as miscellaneous map No. 36, more particularly 

7 described as follows: The area bounded by the back of the 

8 existing inner sidewalk on top of Mt. Soledad, being also 

9 a circle with radius of 84 feet, the center of which circle 

10 is located as follows: Beginning at the Southwesterly cor11 ner of such Pueblo Lot 1265, such corner being South 

12 17 degrees 14′33′′ East (Record South 17 degrees 14′09′′ 

13 East) 607.21 feet distant along the westerly line of such 

14 Pueblo lot 1265 from the intersection with the North line 

15 of La Jolla Scenic Drive South as described and dedicated 

16 as parcel 2 of City Council Resolution No. 216644 adopted 

17 August 25, 1976; thence North 39 degrees 59′24′′ East 

18 1147.62 feet to the center of such circle. The exact bound19 aries and legal description of the Mt. Soledad Veterans 

20 Memorial shall be determined by survey prepared by the 

21 Secretary of Defense. Upon acquisition of the Mt. Soledad 

22 Veterans Memorial by the United States, the boundaries 

23 of the Memorial may not be expanded. 

Æ 


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