II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3683 

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 18, 2006 

Mr. SESSIONS 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 finds that— 

5 (1) the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial (re6 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Memorial’’) has proudly 

7 stood overlooking San Diego, California, for more 

8 than 52 years as a tribute to the members of the 


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1 United States Armed Forces who sacrificed their 

2 lives in defense of the United States; 

3 (2) the Memorial was dedicated on April 18, 

4 1954, as ‘‘a lasting memorial to the dead of the 

5 First and Second World Wars and the Korean con6 flict’’ and now serves as a memorial to American 

7 veterans of all wars, including the War on Ter8 rorism; 

9 (3) the United States has a long history and 

10 tradition of memorializing members of the Armed 

11 Forces who die in battle with a cross or other reli12 gious emblem of faith, and a memorial cross is fully 

13 integrated as the centerpiece of the multifaceted Me14 morial, which is replete with secular symbols; 

15 (4) the patriotic and inspirational symbolism of 

16 the Memorial provides solace to the families and 

17 comrades of the veterans it memorializes; 

18 (5) the Memorial has been recognized by Con19 gress as a National Veterans Memorial and is con20 sidered a historically significant national memorial; 

21 (6) 76 percent of the voters of the city of San 

22 Diego supported donating the Memorial to the 

23 United States, only to have a California superior 

24 court judge invalidate that election; 


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1 (7) the city of San Diego has diligently pursued 

2 every possible legal recourse to preserve the Memo3 rial in its entirety for persons who have served in 

4 the Armed Forces and who will serve and sacrifice 

5 in the future; and 

6 (8) Congressional action is necessary to pre7 serve the Memorial because the city of San Diego is 

8 under a district court order to remove the Memorial 

9 from city property by August 1, 2006. 

10 SEC. 2. ACQUISITION OF MEMORIAL. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—To effectuate the purpose of sec12 tion 116 of division J of the Consolidated Appropriations 

13 Act, 2005 (16 U.S.C. 431 note; 118 Stat. 3346), which 

14 designated the Memorial as a national memorial honoring 

15 veterans of the United States Armed Forces to preserve 

16 a historically significant war memorial, there is vested in 

17 the United States all right, title, and interest in and to, 

18 and the right to immediate possession of, the Memorial, 

19 as described in subsection (d). 

20 (b) COMPENSATION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The United States shall pay 

22 to each owner of property the title to which is taken 

23 by the United States pursuant to this section com24 pensation in an amount equal to, as applicable— 


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1 (A) the agreed negotiated value of the 

2 property; or 

3 (B) the valuation of the property according 

4 to an applicable judgment. 

5 (2) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—A payment under 

6 paragraph (1) shall be made from the permanent 

7 judgment appropriation established pursuant to sec8 tion 1304 of title 31, United States Code. 

9 (3) FULL FAITH AND CREDIT.—The full faith 

10 and credit of the United States is pledged to the 

11 payment of any judgment entered against the 

12 United States with respect to a taking of property 

13 pursuant to this section. 

14 (4) FAILURE TO NEGOTIATE SETTLEMENT.—If 

15 the applicable parties do not reach a negotiated set16 tlement with respect to a taking under this section 

17 by the date that is 1 year after the date of enact18 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense may ini19 tiate a proceeding in a court of competent jurisdic20 tion to determine the amount of compensation to be 

21 paid by the United States with respect to the taking. 

22 (c) MAINTENANCE.—On acquisition of the Memorial 

23 by the United States, the Secretary of Defense shall— 

24 (1) manage the property subject to the taking; 

25 and 


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1 (2) offer to enter into a memorandum of under2 standing with the Mt. Soledad Memorial Association 

3 for the continued maintenance of the Memorial by 

4 the Association. 

5 (d) LEGAL DESCRIPTION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Memorial referred to in 

7 this section is the portion of Pueblo Lot 1265 of the 

8 Pueblo Lands of San Diego, California, as depicted 

9 on the map of San Diego County, California, num10 bered 36, prepared by James Pascoe, dated 1879, 

11 and on file in the office of the County Recorder of 

12 San Diego County, and more particularly described 

13 as the area bounded by the back of the existing 

14 inner sidewalk on top of Mt. Soledad, being a circle 

15 with radius of 84 feet, the center of which is located 

16 as follows: 

17 (A) Beginning at the southwesterly corner 

18 of Pueblo Lot 1265, S. 17 degrees, 14′33′′ E. 

19 (record S. 17 degrees 14′09′′ E.), 607.21 feet 

20 along the westerly line of that lot from its inter21 section with the north line of La Jolla Scenic 

22 Drive South, designated as parcel 2 in City 

23 Council Resolution No. 216644 (August 25, 

24 1976). 


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1 (B) Thence N. 39 degrees 59′24′′ E., 

2 1147.62 feet to the center of the circle. 

3 (2) SURVEY.—The exact boundaries and legal 

4 description of the Memorial shall be determined by 

5 a survey to be prepared by the Secretary of Defense. 

6 (3) PROHIBITION ON EXPANSION.—On acquisi7 tion of the Memorial by the United States, the 

8 boundaries of the Memorial shall not be expanded. 

Æ 


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