Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 4526 - Expansion of Manassas National Battlefield

(Senate)
(Andrews (D) Texas and 203 others)

The Administration opposes enactment of H.R. 4526, and, if it is enacted in its current form, the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget would recommend that it be vetoed.

The National Park Service does not believe that the 542-acre William Center tract adjacent to Manassas National Battlefield warrants Federal acquisition. Accordingly, the cost of acquiring this property by the unusual method of legislative taking — a cost of up to $100 million — is entirely unwarranted. This expenditure, equal to several years of National Park Service land acquisition funding nationwide, would violate the limitations on direct spending contained in the Bipartisan Budget Agreement reached last November between Congress and the Administration. Also, enactment of the bill would complicate efforts to meet FY 1989 deficit reduction targets set by the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, and increase the chance of a Government-wide sequester.

Moreover, Federal acquisition of the William Center property would not address the most important long-term issue at the battlefield, which is the amount of traffic on roads within the current boundaries of the battlefield. The Administration believes that a negotiated settlement of these issues — involving the Department of the Interior, State and local officials, and private interests — should be pursued in lieu of legislation, to avoid the extraordinary costs that would be imposed by H.R. 4526.