John Sarbanes: “today I am introducing on behalf of myself, Mr. Hutchinson, and Mr. Torricelli, legislation to create a National…”

“today I am introducing on behalf of myself, Mr. Hutchinson, and Mr. Torricelli, legislation to create a National Military Museum Foundation. The purpose of this legislation is to encourage and facilitate private-sector support in the effort to preserve, interpret and display the important role the military has played in the history of our nation. This legislation is, in my judgment, crucial at this particular moment in history, when we are on the verge of jeopardizing two-centuries worth of military artifacts and negating the possibility of such collections in the future. It has been the long-standing tradition of the U.S. Department of War and its successor, the Department of Defense, to preserve our historic military artifacts. Since the days of the revolution to the conflict in Bosnia, Americans have been proud of the role that our military has had in safeguarding our democracy, and we have tried to ensure that future generations will know that role. Over the years we have accumulated a priceless collection of military artifacts from every period of American history and every technological era. The collection includes flags, uniforms, weapons, paintings and historic records as well as full-size tanks, ships and aircraft which document history and provide provenance for our nation and armed services.”