STAND. COM. REP. NO. 960

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 168

       H.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 168, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MEMORIALS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for the planning and design of a memorial to honor service members of the recent conflicts in the Persian Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the various theaters of the Global War on Terrorism, to be located at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe, on the island of Oahu, and for replicas of the memorial to be located at state veterans cemeteries statewide.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Veterans Services, Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and three individuals.

Your Committee finds that recognizing service members from Hawaii who have dutifully served to protect the freedom and liberties of the country is a noble and important endeavor.  Indeed, the State already has memorials dedicated to those Hawaii service members who served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.  Continuing this tradition of honoring Hawaii's service members, the Legislature enacted Act 139, Session Laws of Hawaii 2013, which required the Office on Veterans' Services to develop a plan for establishing a memorial dedicated to those service members who have served in the Persian Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the various theaters of the Global War on Terrorism.  Subsequently, the Office on Veterans' Services established a task force to fulfill the Legislature's requirement, and the task force ultimately determined that the appropriate location for such a memorial would be at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe, on the island of Oahu, with replicas to be located at state veterans cemeteries statewide.  Based on that recommendation, this measure appropriates funds for the planning and design of the memorial and for replicas of the memorial to be placed at state veterans cemeteries statewide.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 168, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs,

________________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair