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Civil War Preservation Trust Gets Honorable Mention on the Floor of the U. S. Senate |
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Civil War Preservation Trust Gets Honorable Mention on the Floor of the U. S. Senate |
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From: dduncan@civilwar.org To: scarhdkj@aol.com Subject: Good News from CWPT Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 3:58 PM Hope all is well with you. Just wanted to pass along the following from our Policy Department… Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) made floor remarks this past Wednesday in support of the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program. The Washington Times briefly reported his remarks. His floor statement and the Washington Times story appear below. It is not often that a non-profit organization has been so favorably mentioned on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Thanks for all you have done and continue to do to help advance our mission. I just wanted to let you know that in a few days, you will be receiving a letter from CWPT President Jim Lighthizer that includes a petition to Congress to help secure $10 million in federal matching funds in the 2008 budget. I hope you will take a moment to sign this important document, and return it to us along with your generous support. Many thanks!
With warmest regards, your obed't serv't, dduncan@civilwar.org Over 24,150 acres saved...and counting -------------------------------------------------------- CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELD PRESERVATION PROGRAM Congressional Record – United States Senate S4670-S4671 April 18, 2007 Mr. WEBB. Mr. President, today I wish to discuss an issue that has held a special place in my life for many years, the preservation of our Nation's civil war battlefields. Our historic battlefields--outdoor classrooms where visitors may walk in the very footsteps of heroes from past generations--are under threat. More than 200,000 acres of historically significant battlefield land remain unprotected and are threatened by development pressures. That is why I urge my colleagues to fully fund the Civil War Battlefield Protection Program. This arm of the National Park Service is an invaluable tool to preserve our Nation's history. In 1990, Congress established the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission, a blue-ribbon panel empowered to investigate the status of America's remaining Civil War battlefields. Congress also tasked the Commission with the mission of prioritizing these battlefields according to their historic importance and the threats to their survival. The Commission ultimately looked at the 10,000-plus battles and skirmishes of the Civil War and determined that 384 priority sites should be preserved. The results of the report were released in 1993 and they were not encouraging. The 1993 Commission report recommended that Congress create a $10 million-a-year emergency program to save threatened Civil War battlefield land. The result was the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program. To date, the Preservation Program, work! ing with its partners, has saved 14,100 acres of land in 15 States. The key to the success of the Preservation Program is that it achieves battlefield preservation through collaborative partnerships between State and local governments, the private sector and nonprofit organizations, such as the Civil War Preservation Trust . Matching grants provided by the program protect lands outside of the National Park Service boundaries and do not add to the Park Service's maintenance costs. But for the Preservation Program and their partners with the Civil War Preservation Trust, we would have lost key sites from such national shrines at Antietam. Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Manassas, Harpers Ferry, Bentonville, Mansfield, and Champion Hill. Their names still haunt us to this day. Had the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program not intervened, the sites would have been lost forever to commercial and residential development. Now they have been protected for future generations to enjoy and learn about our Nation's history. They are islands of green space in a seemingly endless sea of commercial sprawl. The need to protect our Nation's battlefields is far too great for any one well-intentioned Federal program. That is why the partnership with the Civil War Preservation Trust is so critical. This visionary preservation group is able to work with other foundations, State and local governments and their membership to match Federal funds by 100 percent. How often can we tout such an achievement with other Federal programs? The trust receives no financial gain from the Preservation Program and, working with their non-Federal partners, has raised more than $30 million to secure key battlefield sites in 15 States. They are in this fight for all the right reasons. This partnership truly serves as a model in bringing all stakeholders to the table to tackle pressing national issues. For me, these hallowed grounds, these living memorials to the 620,000 Americans who sacrificed the! ir lives to fight in the Civil War , have special, personal significance. Ancestors of mine fought on both sides during the war , including William Jewell, who was wounded in the Battle of Cedar Mountain in Culpeper County, VA, wounded again at Antietam and was finally killed in action at Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863. It is not every day you can visit these battlefield sites and have an immediate, direct connection with your ancestors. We must preserve these sites so that future generations might see and touch the very places where so many sacrifices were made, by soldiers and civilians alike, to settle the unresolved issues from the American Revolution of slavery and sovereignty. We are a stronger, more diverse and genuinely free nation because of these sacrifices. I would remind my colleagues that the Preservation Program has enjoyed bipartisan, bicameral support since its creation. In 2002, program funding was authorized through the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act at the level recommended by the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission--$10 million a year. The clock is ticking against these threatened historical sites given the pace of commercial development. Just last month, the Civil War Preservation Trust released its list of the 10 most threatened battlefield sites. Among them: Gettysburg; Fort Morgan, Alabama; Marietta, Georgia and three sites in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 5 years there may be little left to protect. That is why I am here today to urge my colleagues to join me in requesting the full, authorized amount for the Preservation Program. These Federal funds will leverage millions more in private and other charitable donations; thereby increasing the trust's ability to preserve more threatened battlefield sites. When the ``Soldiers' National Cemetery'' was dedicated at the Gettysburg battlefield in November 1863, President Lincoln spoke eloquently of the imperative to honor those who had given their ``last full measure of devotion'' 4 months earlier. The Civil ! War Batt lefield Preservation Program allows us to carry on Lincoln's vision. I urge my colleagues to join me in seeking full funding for the program this fiscal year. ###
-------------------------------------------------------- By John McCaslin April 20, 2007 The Washington Times "Ancestors of mine fought on both sides of the Civil War," recalls Sen. James H. Webb Jr., Virginia Democrat, "including William Jewell, who was wounded in the Battle of Cedar Mountain in Culpeper County, Virginia, wounded again at Antietam, and was finally killed in action at Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863." As the freshman senator puts it: "It is not every day you can visit these battlefield sites and have an immediate, direct connection with your ancestors." Equating such battlefields to "outdoor classrooms," Mr. Webb, a former secretary of the Navy, warned senators this week that more than 200,000 acres of "significant" battlefield land is now threatened by development. To prevent their loss, he urged his colleagues to fully fund the Civil War Battlefield Protection Program, an arm of the National Park Service. "But for the preservation program and their partners with the Civil War Preservation Trust, we would have lost key sites from such national shrines at Antietam, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Manassas, Harpers Ferry, Bentonville, Mansfield and Champion Hill. Their names still haunt us to this day," Mr. Webb noted. "Had they not intervened, the sites would have been lost forever to commercial and residential development."
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