S.J. Res. 62

STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SENATE ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE CONCERNING S.J.RES. 62, A JOINT RESOLUTION APPROVING THE LOCATION OF A MEMORIAL TO COMMEMORATE THE COMMITMENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO A FREE PRESS BY HONORING JOURNALISTS WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE TO THAT CAUSE.

DECEMBER 1, 2022

Chairman Manchin, Ranking Member Barrasso, and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide the Department of the Interior’s views on S.J.Res. 62, a Joint Resolution approving the location of a memorial to commemorate the commitment of the United States to a free press by honoring journalists who sacrificed their lives in service to that cause.

The Department supports this legislation.

Public Law 116–253, enacted on December 23, 2020, authorized the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation (Foundation) to establish a memorial in the District of Columbia to commemorate America’s commitment to a free press by honoring journalists who sacrificed their lives in service to that cause, in accordance with the provisions of the Commemorative Works Act (CWA), 40 U.S.C. § 8901 et seq.

The Foundation requested the authority to consider potential memorial locations in Area I, which comprises the central monumental core of the District of Columbia and its environs as defined in the CWA, 40 U.S.C. § 8908(a), depicted on the map entitled “Commemorative Areas Washington, DC and Environs,” numbered 869/86501 B, and dated June 24, 2003. The CWA, 40 U.S.C. § 8908(b) 1), provides that the Secretary of the Interior, after consultation with the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission (Commission), may recommend locating a commemorative work in Area I only if the Secretary determines that the subject of the memorial is of preeminent historical and lasting significance to the Nation. If a determination of preeminence and lasting significance is made, this section further provides that the Secretary shall notify Congress and recommend that the memorial be located in Area I. Following its public meeting on October 5, 2021, the Commission advised the Department that the Fallen Journalists Memorial meets the CWA Area I criteria and recommended that the Foundation receive the authority from Congress to consider a memorial site in Area I.

On September 8, 2022, in accordance with the CWA, Secretary Haaland notified the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee that the Department has consulted with the Commission and recommends that the Foundation be authorized to consider appropriately sized locations within Area I as potential sites for the Fallen Journalists Memorial. Secretary Haaland’s letter noted that the Foundation should carefully consider the program and scale of the memorial when considering potential sites and should recognize that Area I is most appropriate for new memorials of modest scale. The letter also noted that Area II may additionally offer sites worthy of consideration, particularly for more expansive memorial designs.

Chairman Manchin, this concludes our statement.