Remembering Our Local Heroes Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3923 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a grant program to provide funding for memorials honoring veterans, law enforcement offi- cers, and firefighters, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 16, 2021 Ms. TENNEY (for herself and Mr. PAPPAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a grant program to provide funding for memorials honoring vet- erans, law enforcement officers, and firefighters, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Remembering Our 4 Local Heroes Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR MEMORIALS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es- 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3923.IH H3923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3923 IH tablish a grant program to fund construction, restoration, 1 renovation, and maintenance for covered memorials. 2 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Pro- 4 gram, the Secretary may award grants to units of 5 local government and nonprofit organizations. 6 (2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant 7 under the Program, a unit of local government or 8 nonprofit organization shall submit to the Secretary 9 an application at such time, in such manner, and 10 containing such information as the Secretary may 11 require. 12 (3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the 13 Program, the Secretary shall give priority to grants 14 that will fund projects— 15 (A) for which strong support is dem- 16 onstrated from the local community; and 17 (B) that memorialize individuals or groups, 18 living or deceased— 19 (i) who are broadly viewed to have 20 contributed positively, in a manner dem- 21 onstrating exemplary public service, to 22 their community or to the United States; 23 or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3923.IH H3923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3923 IH (ii) who distinguished themselves 1 through acts of bravery in which they 2 risked their lives. 3 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded under the 4 Program may only be used for construction, restoration, 5 renovation, or maintenance for covered memorials. 6 (d) LIMITATION ON GRANTS.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not 8 award more than 1 grant in a fiscal year with re- 9 spect to any single— 10 (A) unit of local government or nonprofit 11 organization; or 12 (B) covered memorial. 13 (2) AMOUNT.—No grant awarded under the 14 Program may exceed $100,000. 15 (e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The recipient of a grant 17 under the Program shall provide non-Federal match- 18 ing funds equal to not less than 50 percent of the 19 grant. 20 (2) IN-KIND SUPPORT.—The non-Federal 21 matching funds described in paragraph (1) may in- 22 clude in-kind support. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3923.IH H3923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3923 IH (f) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap- 1 propriated to the Secretary to carry out the Program 2 $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 3 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) COVERED MEMORIAL.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered me- 6 morial’’ means any statue, monument, sculp- 7 ture, memorial, plaque, inscription, or other 8 structure or landscape feature, including a gar- 9 den or memorial grove that is— 10 (i) owned or administered by a unit of 11 local government or nonprofit organization; 12 and 13 (ii) designed to perpetuate in a per- 14 manent manner the memory of individuals 15 or groups, living or deceased, who— 16 (I) are veterans of the Armed 17 Forces who served on or after April 6, 18 1917; 19 (II) are members of the Armed 20 Forces killed while on active duty as 21 a result of injuries incurred in the line 22 of duty on or after April 6, 1917; 23 (III) have served as law enforce- 24 ment officers; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3923.IH H3923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3923 IH (IV) have served as firefighters. 1 (B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘‘covered me- 2 morial’’ does not include any item listed in sub- 3 paragraph (A) that is located within the inte- 4 rior of a structure or a structure which is pri- 5 marily used for other purposes. 6 (2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 7 the grant program established under this section. 8 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9 the Secretary of the Interior. 10 (4) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 11 ‘‘unit of local government’’ means— 12 (A) a unit of general government below the 13 State level, including a city, county, munici- 14 pality, town, township, or village; 15 (B) the government of the District of Co- 16 lumbia; 17 (C) the government of, or a unit of general 18 government within, American Samoa, Guam, 19 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is- 20 lands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 21 Virgin Islands of the United States, and any 22 other territory or possession of the United 23 States; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3923.IH H3923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3923 IH (D) the Tribal Government of a federally 1 recognized Indian Tribe. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3923.IH H3923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS