America's National Churchill Museum National Historic Landmark Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1945 will designate America's National Churchill Museum as a national historic landmark. It would also direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to determine whether the museum is eligible for inclusion in the National Park System.

This museum is located on the campus of Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, where former Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his famous ``Iron Curtain'' speech at the outbreak of the Cold War. It contains exhibits about Churchill, his life, and his impact, all of which play a role in our story here and in London.

The museum exhibits include a continuous section of the Berlin Wall, the gymnasium where Churchill delivered the ``Iron Curtain'' speech, and the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, a historic building which survived the air raids in London during World War II and was moved to Fulton in the 1960s.

These are wonderful exhibits and a truly significant historical location that is worthy of national recognition. I am proud to support the designation of this museum as a historic landmark.

However, I also want to mention my deep concern about how this administration is working to rewrite and whitewash history throughout the National Park System. We must provide the Park Service with the resources and autonomy it needs to preserve, protect, and share our Nation's stories, warts and all.

Winston Churchill himself once famously told the House of Commons, ``Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.''

We cannot learn from history if we erase history. We cannot see how far we have come if we erase the things that don't fit into the current idea of the way things should be. We can't sit idly by as this administration selectively edits our country's past.

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Ms. HOYLE of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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