Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - June 08, 2009)

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By Mr. WARNER:

S. 1207. A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility designating the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, as a unit of the National Park System; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, last month, we honored an American hero, Elisha ``Ray'' Nance of Bedford, VA, who passed away at the age of 94. Mr. Nance was the last surviving member of what has come to be known as ``The Bedford Boys''--members of Company A, 116th Infantry, 29th Division.

For those who do not know the story, Mr. Nance was among 38 National Guardsmen from the close-knit community of Bedford who were called to active service in World War II. On June 6, 1944, 35 young men of Bedford's Company A were in the first wave to hit ``Omaha Beach'' at Normandy. Nineteen young men from Bedford died in the opening battle during the early morning of June 6, and two more Bedford boys died a few days later in the ensuing Normandy campaign.

``We Bedford boys,'' Nance recalled, ``competed to be in the first wave. We wanted to be there. We wanted to be the first on the beach,'' he would write as he recovered from his own severe wounds. The loss of 21 of the 35 soldiers from that small community of 3,200 people designated Bedford as the town that suffered the highest proportional losses on D-Day.

On Saturday, we marked the 65th anniversary of the Allied invasion at Normandy. And as we reflect upon all that was lost on Omaha Beach--and, ultimately, all that was gained as Allied forces successfully liberated Europe during World War II--it is appropriate to reflect for a moment on the heart-wrenching sacrifice made by this small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia.

In 1996, Congress designated Bedford as the most appropriate spot for the National D-Day Memorial. The Memorial, built upon a mixture of sand from Omaha Beach and farm dirt from central Virginia, and dedicated by then-President George W. Bush on June 6, 2001, and it now stands as a striking tribute to the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the Allied forces on D-Day. The historical events surrounding the Normandy landing provide the broad context for the story the Memorial attempts to tell, but the National D-Day Memorial is not about war: it is about service to our nation--the duties of citizenship--and subjugating oneself for a greater good. In short, it is about the character and patriotism we find in all of our small communities across America.

The Memorial has attracted over one million visitors since it opened in 2001, with over 50 percent visiting from out of state, and more than 10,000 students participate in the D-Day Memorial's educational programs each year.

However, expenses run just over $2 million each year, and the Memorial takes in less than $600,000 a year in admission fees and gifts. Recently, the non-profit foundation that operates the Memorial announced it does not have adequate resources to remain open through the end of the year. We must take action now, or we risk losing an important landmark that pays tribute to the unbelievable sacrifices our young men and their families during that fateful landing.

Therefore, I am introducing this legislation that would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, as a unit of the National Park System. This proposal is cosponsored by my esteemed Virginia colleague, Senator Webb.

I urge you to support this measure, which would protect and preserve this important monument to our D-Day veterans and their families and future generations of Americans.

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