[House Report 106-583]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 106-583
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DISABLED VETERANS' LIFE MEMORIAL
_______
April 13, 2000.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1509]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 1509) to authorize the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial
Foundation to establish a memorial in the District of Columbia
or its environs to honor veterans who became disabled while
serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, having
considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment
and recommend that the bill do pass.
purpose of the bill
The purpose of H.R. 1509 is to authorize the Disabled
Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation to establish a memorial in
the District of Columbia or its environs to honor veterans who
became disabled while serving in the Armed Forces of the United
States.
background and need for legislation
H.R. 1509 authorizes the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial
Foundation to establish a memorial in the District of Columbia
or its environs to honor veterans who became disabled while
serving in the Armed Forces of the United States. Veterans who
are disabled make up a significant portion of all the veterans
who have served in the Armed Forces in defense of the United
States. In fact, there are nearly 2.3 million disabled veterans
in America today who have fought in foreign conflicts and wars
including 770 from World War I and even 13 Americans disabled
in the Mexican Border War against Pancho Villa. Although these
men and women veterans are honored on Memorial and Veterans
Days, there is no specific memorial of commemoration to those
veterans who were disabled during these conflicts.
H.R. 1509 ensures that establishment of the memorial will
be in compliance with the Commemorative Works Act and that no
federal funds will be used to pay for any expense of the
establishment for the memorial. The LIFE Memorial Foundation
would be responsible for raising money for and the payment of
expenses of establishing the memorial.
committee action
H.R. 1509 was introduced on April 21, 1999, by Congressman
Sam Johnson (R-TX). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on
National Parks and Public Lands. On October 26, 1999, the
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On March 23, 2000 the
Subcommittee met to consider the bill. No amendments were
offered and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the Full
Committee by voice vote. On April 5, 2000, the Full Resources
Committee met to consider the bill. No amendments were offered
and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of
Representatives by voice vote.
committee oversight findings and recommendations
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.
constitutional authority statement
Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
compliance with house rule xiii
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, credit
authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax
expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office,
enactment of this bill could affect direct spending by less
than $500,000 annually due to the deposit (and subsequent
spending) of privately-raised maintenance funds for the
memorial under the Commemorative Works Act.
3. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee has received no report of
oversight findings and recommendations from the Committee on
Government Reform on this bill.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office.
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, April 11, 2000.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1509, a bill to
authorize the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation to
establish a memorial in the District of Columbia or its
environs to honor veterans who became disabled while serving in
the armed forces of the United States.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 1509--A bill to authorize the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial
Foundation to establish a memorial in the District of Columbia
or its environs to honor veterans who became disabled while
serving in the Armed Forces of the United States
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1509 would have no
significant impact on the federal budget. Because the bill
could affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would
apply. CBO estimates, however, that any such effects would be
less than $500,000 annually. The bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets
of state, local, or tribal governments.
H.R. 1509 would authorize the Disabled Veterans' LIFE
Memorial Foundation to establish a memorial in accordance with
the Commemorative Works Act, and without the use of federal
funds. Under that act, any association that receives a permit
to construct a memorial in the District of Columbia or its
environs must deposit an amount equal to 10 percent of the
memorial's estimated construction cost in the U.S. Treasury.
The funds deposited are then available without further
appropriation for maintenance and preservation of the memorial.
Based on information provided by the National Park Service
(NPS), CBO estimates that the federal government would receive
a deposit of less than $500,000. The NPS would spend a portion
of this amount each year to maintain the memorial. Based on the
experience with similar commemorative projects, CBO expects
that no amounts would be received or spent by the federal
government for several years after the bill is enacted. In any
case, the collections and spending would offset each other over
time.
On April 11, 2000, CBO prepared a cost estimate for S. 311,
a similar bill, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources on April 5, 2000. The estimated
costs of the two bills are the same.
The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis. This estimate was
approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for
Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL, OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt State, local, or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.