I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2748
To authorize the establishment of a national database for purposes of identi-
fying, locating, and cataloging the many memorials and permanent trib-
utes to America’s veterans.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 2, 2001
Mr. DREIER (for himself and Mr. SCHIFF) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to
the Committee on Resources, 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 authorize the establishment of a national database for
purposes of identifying, locating, and cataloging the
many memorials and permanent tributes to America’s
veterans.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National War Perma-
nent Tribute Historical Database Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) there are many thousands of public memo-
rials and permanent tributes throughout the United
States and abroad that commemorate military con-
flicts of the United States and the service of individ-
uals in the Armed Forces of the United States;
(2) many such permanent tributes have never
been comprehensively located, identified, or cata-
loged;
(3) there exists a need to collect and centralize
information regarding the identification, location,
and description of those permanent tributes; and
(4) an organization known as RVETS, a tax ex-
empt nonprofit corporation, has undertaken a self-
funded program to catalog more than 8,000 memo-
rials and permanent tributes located in the United
States.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘permanent tribute’’ means any
permanent memorial, marker, other than a grave
marker, that commemorates any military conflict of
the United States or the service and sacrifice of any
veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States;
and
(2) the term ‘‘RVETS’’ means Remembering
Veterans Who Earned Their Stripes, a tax exempt
nonprofit corporation;
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF DATABASE.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In order to locate, identify,
and catalog the many thousands of permanent tributes
that commemorate the military conflicts of the United
States, and the service and sacrifice of individuals in the
Armed Forces of the United States, and to make such in-
formation readily available for the educational benefit of
the public, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall estab-
lish and maintain the National War Permanent Tribute
Historical Database. The database shall be comprised of
the location, history and background, photographs, and
other information that enhances the understanding of the
permanent tributes, and information about the veterans
in whose honor the tributes are dedicated. The database
shall contain information on no fewer than 1,000 such per-
manent tributes and shall be made accessible to the public
through the Internet site of the Department of Veterans
Affairs in a format that permits the public to submit infor-
mation on memorials for the purpose of updating and ex-
panding the database.
(b) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may seek the as-
sistance of the National Park Service, the Department of
the Interior, the American Battle Monuments Commis-
sion, and other agencies that the Secretary considers ap-
propriate in carrying out this Act. The Secretary is au-
thorized to contract with RVETS for any information or
services which assist in the development and implementa-
tion of the database.
(c) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary
$3,200,000 to carry out this Act.
Æ