Date: 2008-09-22
Speaker: GARY G. MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. thank you for the opportunity to express the importance of H.R. 2933. a bill to reauthorize the Civil War Battlefields Preservation Program. I would like to thank Chairman RAHALL and Ranking Member YOUNG of the Committee on Natural Resources for shepherding this bill through their committee. Additionally. Chairman GRIJALVA and Ranking Member BISHOP of the Subcommittee on National Parks. Forests. Public Lands must be recognized for their work preserving the American landscape for generations of future citizens to enjoy. Additionally. I would like to particularly thank everyone at the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Trust. especially their President. James Lighthizer. for all the work they have done bringing attention and awareness to the need for preservation. Without the Trust. hundreds of acres of land would likely be lost forever. Preservation of our Nations Civil War Battlefields is an issue that I hold close to my heart and fresh in my mind. Without a physical link to the past. we are left with only a passing glimpse of who we are as a Nation. Our historic battlefields provide outdoor classrooms for visitors to recreate the history of heroes from generations come and gone. In 1993. the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission. a blueribbon panel was created by Congress to investigate the status of Americas battlefields. The Commission reported that 384 Civil War battlefields were considered high priority and were in serious danger of destruction. The report concluded that almost 20 percent of the Civil War battlefields were lost or fragmented. 17 percent in poor condition. and 60 percent to have been lost or in imminent danger of being fragmented and lost as coherent historic sites. Congress recognized the need to safeguard the only living link to the "War Between the States" and in fiscal year 1999 a preservation program was financed for the first time. In 2002. I authored the bill that created the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program. To date. this program has helped save more than 15.000 acres in 14 States. The American Battlefield Protection Program. an arm of the National Park Service. manages and competitively awards the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program grants. Furthermore. this legislation will facilitate the creation of partnerships at the State and local level. encouraging the private sector to preserve. conserve. and enhance nationally significant Civil War battlefields. The programs 50/50 matching grants formula encourages both public and private sector investment in battlefield protection. Grants are directed to State and local governments for land acquisition only and are not issued to nonprofit or private groups. Grant money cannot be used for administrative costs or overhead. The grants are awarded based on five requirements: (1) The battlefield must be on the list of 384 priority sites determined by the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission. (2) The land must be outside the authorized boundaries of the National Park System. thus keeping the program from contributing to National Park Service maintenance costs. (3) Any land acquired with the assistance of the grant program may not be subsequently converted to a nonconservation use without the prior written permission of the Secretary of the Interior. (4) Any grant awarded must be supported by an appraisal of the propertys value in accordance with federal standards for property appraisals. and (5) Any land acquired with the assistance of the grant program must be protected by a perpetual easement to ensure its preservation for future generations. The effect of this program and intent of this legislation is to preserve nationally significant Civil War battlefields through conservation and purchases of those battlefields. from willing sellers at fair market value. Preservation of historic battlefields involves only willing sellers when properties become available. and since only willing sellers are involved in the transaction. all private property rights are preserved. There is absolutely no eminent domain authority associated with this program. Willing sellers are compensated at fairmarket value and the program allows preservation groups to compete with developers to buy land. Among the sites saved as a result of this program are historic properties at: Fort Donelson. Tennessee. where the Union scored its first major victory of the war and Union General Ulysses S. Grant earned the nickname "Unconditional Surrender". Antietam. Maryland. where 23.000 soldiers were killed. marking the bloodiest day in American history and leading to the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. and. Chancellorsville. Virginia. where a much smaller Confederate force defeated the larger Union force. while suffering the loss of the famed General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. Despite the progress. we still have more to do. Many sites have only been partially preserved and those that have no opportunity for acquisition run the risk of being lost forever. Only about 20 percent of the actual battlefields upon which the Civil War was fought are currently preserved. All of the rest of that hallowed ground is either unprotected or has already been destroyed. These battlefields offer a porthole to the past. The vivid imagery of an epic conflict can remind visitors of the struggles our country has gone through to preserve the banner of liberty and justice for all. Memorializing the conflict. Oliver Wendell Holmes said. "We have shared the incommunicable experience of war. We felt. we still feel. the passion of life to its top. In our youths. our hearts were touohed by fire." By preserving this Nations historic Civil War Battlefields. we can give visitors a sense of what Mr. Holmes was talking about. Since fiscal year 1999. Congress has appropriated $36 million to preserve Civil War Battlefields and the White House included a $4 million request for the program as part of its fiscal year 2009 budget. H.R. 2933 is a clean bill that would extend the authorization. from fiscal years 2009 through 2013 for battlefield preservation grants under the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2002..The programs necessity. and proof that the preservation of history is a bipartisan issue. is demonstrated by more than 100 cosponsors divided nearly equally between Republicans and Democrats. A companion bill. authored by Senator JIM WEBB of Virginia. has already been approved by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and enjoys widespread support in that chamber. I thank the Speaker and I respectfully request and urge you to support this legislation.