National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2007
Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Chairman, this is a simple amendment that expresses simply a sense of Congress that the Secretary of the Army should consider conveying the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Marshall, Texas, to the Marshall-Harrison County Veterans Association for the purpose of erecting a veterans memorial, creating a park, and converting the present building to a veterans museum to recognize and honor the accomplishments of our Armed Forces.
I have received letters, phone calls and personal visits about such a project. Harrison County, back in the 1990s, had closed a huge Army facility. There were thousands of people that lost jobs, and now BRAC has recommended closing a reserve center there.
This is not trying to undo the BRAC process whatsoever. BRAC is already closing the reserve center. What this will do is allow them to transfer this.
We have a letter from the Army indicating this should be surplus, less than 3 acres. This will allow them to have a veterans museum, a veterans center, a place veterans can go, many of whom will never have the opportunity to come here to Washington, D.C., to see the museums and see the memorials. And it will give them a chance there in East Texas where there have already been so many jobs lost because of BRAC.
This is a bipartisan issue in the county. There are Democrats and Republicans both that are urging and pushing for this, and I was proud to go ahead and bring this amendment as a sense of Congress to urge that this is something that could be done. It will help the community in an area there in east Texas.
Recruiting is up, recruiting is going well, but it further emphasizes and will give an opportunity to emphasize the importance of valor, duty, honor, country.
I would like to thank Chairman Hunter and his committee for their hard work on this bill that will undoubtedly benefit our Armed Forces. I would ask that this amendment also be added to the bill to assist those folks there in Harrison County.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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