Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visitor Center Enforcement Act

VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL VISITOR CENTER ENFORCEMENT ACT -- (House of Representatives - March 28, 2006)

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to raise some serious concerns about H.R. 4882, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visitor Center Deadline Enforcement Act. I think everyone in this body, myself included, believes strongly that the Vietnam Veterans Memorial should have a visitors center. That is why Congress passed H.R. 1442 2 1/2 years ago with unanimous support.

That bill authorized the visitors center to be constructed on Federal land in the District of Colombia. It also required that the design and construction of the center comply with existing Federal law governing the placement of memorials, museums, and other facilities on the Mall. As I am sure Members know, the construction of new facilities on the Mall is a difficult and often contentious issue where the competing interests of particular advocates sometimes conflict with the need to protect the sightlines and openness of the Mall itself.

In order to deal with these issues fairly, ensure that all interested parties have a voice, and protect what is truly a national treasure, Congress has created the National Capitol Planning Commission, over which the Government Reform Committee has jurisdiction. It has also established in law a process for the consideration and approval of new facilities on the Mall in the Commemorative Works Act.

The bill before us, H.R. 4882, short-circuits that process in two ways. First, it would create an arbitrary deadline for the visitors center's approval--30 days from the date of enactment. Second, the bill designates the sight on which the center will be built--a small triangle of land between the Vietnam Veterans and Lincoln Memorials. This seems like the kind of micro-management that could be avoided if the Commemorative Works Act process was followed.

One of the requirements of current law is for an environmental assessment to be done on all new facilities on the Mall. It is my understanding that the lack of a completed environmental assessment for the Vietnam visitors center is what has held up the approval for the facility by the Nation Capitol Planning Commission. This assessment will provide critical information needed for final site approval, and it is my further understanding that this assessment is currently underway.

I believe that this approval process should be allowed to reach its own conclusion, without mandated deadlines and site selection. The National Capitol Planning Commission is working in good faith with the National Park Service, the General Services Administration, the government of the District of Colombia, and Vietnam Veterans groups to reach a timely conclusion to this approval process. They should be allowed to do so.

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