109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5683
AN ACT 
To preserve the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in 
San Diego, California, by providing for the im-
mediate acquisition of the memorial by the 
United States.
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5683
AN ACT 
To preserve the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San 
Diego, California, by providing for the immediate acquisi-
tion of the memorial by the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial has 
proudly stood overlooking San Diego, California, for 
over 52 years as a tribute to the members of the 
United States Armed Forces who sacrificed their 
lives in the defense of the United States. 
(2) The Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial was 
dedicated on April 18, 1954, as ‘‘a lasting memorial 
to the dead of the First and Second World Wars and 
the Korean conflict’’ and now serves as a memorial 
to American veterans of all wars, including the War 
on Terrorism. 
(3) The United States has a long history and 
tradition of memorializing members of the Armed 
Forces who die in battle with a cross or other reli-
gious emblem of their faith, and a memorial cross is 
fully integrated as the centerpiece of the multi-fac-
eted Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial that is replete 
with secular symbols. 
(4) The patriotic and inspirational symbolism of 
the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial provides solace 
to the families and comrades of the veterans it me-
morializes. 
(5) The Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial has 
been recognized by Congress as a National Veterans
Memorial and is considered a historically significant 
national memorial. 
(6) 76 percent of the voters of San Diego sup-
ported donating the Mt. Soledad Memorial to the 
Federal Government only to have a superior court 
judge of the State of California invalidate that elec-
tion. 
(7) The City of San Diego has diligently pur-
sued every possible legal recourse in order to pre-
serve the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in its en-
tirety for persons who have served in the Armed 
Forces and those persons who will serve and sac-
rifice in the future. 
SEC. 2. ACQUISITION OF MT. SOLEDAD VETERANS MEMO-
RIAL, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA. 
(a) ACQUISITION.—To effectuate the purpose of sec-
tion 116 of division E of Public Law 108–447 (118 Stat. 
3346; 16 U.S.C. 431 note), which, in order to preserve 
a historically significant war memorial, designated the Mt. 
Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego, California, as 
a national memorial honoring veterans of the United 
States Armed Forces, there is hereby vested in the United 
States all right, title, and interest in and to, and the right 
to immediate possession of, the Mt. Soledad Veterans Me-
morial in San Diego, California, as more fully described 
in subsection (d). 
(b) COMPENSATION.—The United States shall pay 
just compensation to any owner of the property for the 
property taken pursuant to this section, and the full faith 
and credit of the United States is hereby pledged to the 
payment of any judgment entered against the United 
States with respect to the taking of the property. Payment 
shall be in the amount of the agreed negotiated value of 
the property or the valuation of the property awarded by 
judgment and shall be made from the permanent judg-
ment appropriation established pursuant to section 1304 
of title 31, United States Code. If the parties do not reach 
a negotiated settlement within one year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense may 
initiate a proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction 
to determine the just compensation with respect to the 
taking of such property. 
(c) MAINTENANCE.—Upon acquisition of the Mt. 
Soledad Veterans Memorial by the United States, the Sec-
retary of Defense shall manage the property and shall 
enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Mt. 
Soledad Memorial Association for the continued mainte-
nance of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial by the Asso-
ciation.
(d) LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—The Mt. Soledad Vet-
erans Memorial referred to in this section is all that por-
tion of Pueblo lot 1265 of the Pueblo Lands of San Diego 
in the City and County of San Diego, California, according 
to the map thereof prepared by James Pascoe in 1879, 
a copy of which was filed in the office of the County Re-
corder of San Diego County on November 14, 1921, and 
is known as miscellaneous map No. 36, more particularly 
described as follows: The area bounded by the back of the 
existing inner sidewalk on top of Mt. Soledad, being also 
a circle with radius of 84 feet, the center of which circle 
is located as follows: Beginning at the Southwesterly cor-
ner of such Pueblo Lot 1265, such corner being South 
17 degrees 14′33″ East (Record South 17 degrees 14′09″ 
East) 607.21 feet distant along the westerly line of such 
Pueblo lot 1265 from the intersection with the North line 
of La Jolla Scenic Drive South as described and dedicated 
as parcel 2 of City Council Resolution No. 216644 adopted 
August 25, 1976; thence North 39 degrees 59′24″ East 
1147.62 feet to the center of such circle. The exact bound-
aries and legal description of the Mt. Soledad Veterans 
Memorial shall be determined by survey prepared by the 
Secretary of Defense. Upon acquisition of the Mt. Soledad
Veterans Memorial by the United States, the boundaries 
of the Memorial may not be expanded.
Passed the House of Representatives July 19, 2006. 
Attest:
Clerk.