As ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on June 19, 2014
H.R. 4489 would designate two memorials in honor of World War I. The bill would designate the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, as the National World War I Museum and Memorial. The bill also would redesignate Pershing Park in the District of Columbia as the World War I Memorial and would authorize the World War I Centennial Commission to construct an additional commemorative work within that existing memorial. H.R. 4489 would prohibit the use of any federal funds for the designation, establishment, or enhancement of a commemorative work by the commission. The legislation would extend the authorization of the commission until the commemorative work has been completed. Under current law, the authorization for the commission would expire on July 28, 2019.
CBO estimates that there would be no significant federal cost to implement the legislation over the 2015-2019 period. Enacting H.R. 4489 would affect direct spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. The memorial project, which would be completed without the use of federal funds, would be subject to the requirements of the Commemorative Works Act. Under that act, any entity that receives a permit to construct a memorial in the District of Columbia or its environs must donate to the National Park Service an amount equal to 10 percent of the memorial’s estimated construction cost. That amount would be available to the National Park Foundation (a nonprofit organization) in future years to maintain the memorial. Enacting H.R. 4489 would not affect revenues.
H.R. 4489 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
