Hal Rogers: “I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5979, the Mill Springs…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5979, the Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument Act, legislation that I introduced that directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument as a unit of the National Park System. On January 19, 1862, the small Kentucky town of Logan's Cross Roads erupted in a blast of artillery and musket fire as Confederate and Union forces clashed in the Battle of Mill Springs. When the smoke cleared, it was clear that the Union was victorious and had secured its first significant victory in the Civil War. To honor the site, the Mill Springs Battlefield in Pulaski and Wayne Counties in Kentucky was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark district in 1994. Realizing the need to preserve and protect the battlefield for the future, the Mill Springs Battlefield Association was founded in 1992. That association currently owns more than 900 acres of the battlefield that they have pieced together over the years with their own money and grant money from various sources. They even built a $1.7 million, 10,000- square-foot visitor center and museum at the site, which is adjacent to the Mill Springs National Cemetery, which, of course, was started by the deaths from this battle. Mr.…”