FORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES J. BENNETT JOHNSTON, Louisiana, Chairman BUMPERS, Arkansas JAMES A. McCLURE, Idaho LOWELL P. WEICKER, JR., Connecticut DANIEL J. EVANS, Washington DARYL H. OWEN, Staff Director FRANK M. CUSHING, Staff Director for the Minority SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS, NATIONAL PARKS AND FORESTS DALE BUMPERS, Arkansas, Chairman JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico, Vice Chairman MELCHER, Montana MALCOLM WALLOP, Wyoming LOWELL P. WEICKER, JR., Connecticut PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico FRANK H. MURKOWSKI, Alaska CHIC HECHT, Nevada NETT JOHNSTON and JAMES A. MCCLURE are Ex Officio Members of the Subcommittee (II) Stark, Hon. Fortney H. (Pete), U.S. Representative from California Stout, Mary R., national president, Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc VIETNAM WOMEN'S MEMORIAL TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1988 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS, NATIONAL PARKS AND FORESTS, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:10 p.m., in room SD-366, Dirksen Senate Office building, Hon. Dale Bumpers presiding. Senator BUMPERS. The subcommittee will come to order. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DALE BUMPERS, U.S. SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS Senator BUMPERS. In the summer of 1980, after a great deal of controversy, Congress passed legislation which authorized the building of a memorial to commemorate Vietnam veterans. Public Law 96-297 provided that the memorial would be built "in honor and recognition of the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States who served in Vietnam.' Late that same year a competition for the design of the memorial was won by a young architectural student, Maya Lin. It called for the names of 58,000 men and women who were killed in the war to be etched into two 250 foot slabs of polished black granite which would intersect at an obtuse angle. The ten foot walls of the memorial would be imbedded beneath the ground. The memorial design became a source of controversy, and the design was ultimately altered. In the fall of 1982, the original walls of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial were completed and dedicated. Two years later, Frederick Hart's statue of three soldiers and the flag pole were added nearby. Since that time, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial has attracted over 20 million visitors, few of whom left without being touched by its moving simplicity and the contemplative mood it engenders. But controversy surrounding the design of the memorial has continued. There are those who argue that the memorial is not complete and does not adequately represent all those who served in Vietnam. The purpose of the hearing today before the Subcommittee on Public Lands, National Parks and Forests is to hear testimony on S. 2042, a bill to authorize the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc., to construct a statue within the 2.2 acre Vietnam Veterans Memorial site in honor and recognition of the women of the United States who served in the Vietnam war. |