Underground Vietnam Vets Memorial visitors center to be built on Mall
November 20, 2003 12:00 am
WASHINGTON - A bill to build a visitors center at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was signed this week by President Bush.
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., and approved in the House Oct. 15 authorized the creation of an underground visitors center to display artifacts and photos of the thousands of soldiers who died in the Vietnam War.
Pombo said many people who visit the memorial don't know the history of the Vietnam War. He said there was a “moral responsibility to provide a place where thousands of stories of courage can be shared.”
Jan Scruggs, president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the main proponent of the project, said he approached Pombo because he chairs the Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over public lands.
He said Pombo “would have the ability to maneuver the bill rapidly through Congress,” which has been his objective since 2000, when he began the effort to get the center built on the Mall adjacent to the memorial.
For three years, former Sen. Phil Gramm, a Texas Republican, stalled the bill in the Senate, delaying consideration until the next legislative session. Some opposed the idea because they did not want to build another building on the Mall.
The bill passed the Senate in July, and a House version was circulated shortly after.
The current bill was co-sponsored by the Resources Committee's ranking Democratic member, Nick Rahall II, of West Virginia, and two others.
“The legislative process and delays have been very maddening and there have been a lot of good people who have taken the bull by the horns, particularly Congressmen Pombo and Rahall,” Scruggs said.
Because of his efforts in passing the bill, Pombo was invited by Scruggs and the New York Stock Exchange to stand on the balcony during the bell-ringing ceremony in late October, said Brian Kennedy, a spokesman for the House Committee on Resources.
The approval comes 24 years after the bill to construct Vietnam Veterans Memorial was signed by former President Jimmy Carter.
Now that the bill is law, the VVMF will start a campaign to raise approximately $11 million to design and build the center, he said.
Tino Adame, commander of Stockton's Karl Ross Post 16 American Legion, said he was happy to hear the legislation passed.
“It's long overdue, but I thank Congressman Pombo for doing this for the veterans,” said Adame, a Vietnam veteran.
Adame said members of Post 16, which has approximately 800 members in the Stockton area, mailed letters of support for the project to help educate people about Vietnam veterans.
Richard Pittman, a Stockton-born Marine Corps veteran who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1968, said there should be a respectful place where the belongings and photos of soldiers could be displayed.
“Our veterans can finally feel like people care about what they were doing,” he said.
WASHINGTON - A bill to build a visitors center at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was signed this week by President Bush.The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., and approved in the House Oct. 15 authorized the creation of an underground visitors center to display artifacts and photos of the thousands of soldiers who died in the Vietnam War.
Pombo said many people who visit the memorial don't know the history of the Vietnam War. He said there was a “moral responsibility to provide a place where thousands of stories of courage can be shared.”
Jan Scruggs, president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the main proponent of the project, said he approached Pombo because he chairs the Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over public lands.
He said Pombo “would have the ability to maneuver the bill rapidly through Congress,” which has been his objective since 2000, when he began the effort to get the center built on the Mall adjacent to the memorial.
For three years, former Sen. Phil Gramm, a Texas Republican, stalled the bill in the Senate, delaying consideration until the next legislative session. Some opposed the idea because they did not want to build another building on the Mall.
The bill passed the Senate in July, and a House version was circulated shortly after.
The current bill was co-sponsored by the Resources Committee's ranking Democratic member, Nick Rahall II, of West Virginia, and two others.
“The legislative process and delays have been very maddening and there have been a lot of good people who have taken the bull by the horns, particularly Congressmen Pombo and Rahall,” Scruggs said.
Because of his efforts in passing the bill, Pombo was invited by Scruggs and the New York Stock Exchange to stand on the balcony during the bell-ringing ceremony in late October, said Brian Kennedy, a spokesman for the House Committee on Resources.
The approval comes 24 years after the bill to construct Vietnam Veterans Memorial was signed by former President Jimmy Carter.
Now that the bill is law, the VVMF will start a campaign to raise approximately $11 million to design and build the center, he said.
Tino Adame, commander of Stockton's Karl Ross Post 16 American Legion, said he was happy to hear the legislation passed.
“It's long overdue, but I thank Congressman Pombo for doing this for the veterans,” said Adame, a Vietnam veteran.
Adame said members of Post 16, which has approximately 800 members in the Stockton area, mailed letters of support for the project to help educate people about Vietnam veterans.
Richard Pittman, a Stockton-born Marine Corps veteran who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1968, said there should be a respectful place where the belongings and photos of soldiers could be displayed.
“Our veterans can finally feel like people care about what they were doing,” he said.
