Establishing Army Corps of Engineers Veterans' Curation Program

Floor Speech

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Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Serving our country in uniform is, frankly, probably the most noble thing that any human being can do, and it is such incredible sacrifice that our troops do, and their families as well. And they are the ones who allow everything that we take for granted on a daily basis--to live in freedom, to live in democracy. They are the ones who allow us to do that. So today we have the opportunity to help transition our soldiers and our veterans into civilian life much more easily.

H.R. 5282 will help to make opportunities available to the brave men and women who are returning from the fight on the global war on terror. And so this legislation will continue our commitment to our veterans through education and employment opportunities.

As part of the civil works mission, the Corps of Engineers uncovers countless historic artifacts continuously. However, a lot of these historic artifacts which are very important items are, frankly, just uncataloged and just semi-abandoned, and they need curation.

This is such a commonsense bill. It helps preserve our history and preserve our past, while also making sure that we give opportunities to the most noble, to the best and the brightest of our country, to our troops and to our veterans.

I urge all Members to support our veterans and support this real commonsense, noble legislation.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Madam Speaker, I think the issue has been adequately explained. This is something that has to be done. Who better to do it? Who is more qualified and who is more deserving? Who is better to do it than our veterans, than our troops and our soldiers?

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