To Rep. Cunningham: 'What's He Doing to Protect the Lowcountry?'
Medal of Honor recipient and Ret. Marine Corp Major General James Livingston took to the airwaves on News Radio 94.3 WSC with Talk Show Host Kelly Golden, questioning where SC's First Congressional Congressman Joe Cunningham was on the latest push by Texas lawmakers introducing their own bill this week to make Arlington, Texas the future home of the National Medal of Honor Museum.
"There's already a bill in Congress designating Patriots Point as the home of the National Medal of Honor Museum," Livingston says.
Livingston is referring back to 1999 when House Bill 1663 passed, called the National Medal of Honor Memorial Act, that recognizes the following sites as National Medal of Honor sites:
(1) the memorial under construction at Riverside National Cemetery, California
(2) the memorial at White River State Park in Indianapolis, Indiana
(3) the Congressional Medal of Honor Museum at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, currently situated on the ex-U.S.S. Yorktown.
Livingston maintains, "The Medal of Honor Society has been VERY CLEAR numerous times they're staying in South Carolina, in Mount Pleasant."
This new bill, sponsored by Texas Representatives, is called the National Medal of Honor Act: H.R. 5173, and was introduced to the House Armed Services and Natural Resources Committees on Nov. 19th. Conveniently, the full text of the bill is not yet available. Yet, stories like this are already being published online by Stars & Stripes for example:
'The National Medal of Honor Monument Act, filed by Reps. Marc Veasey, a Democrat, and Ron Wright, a Republican, tasks the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation with the creation of a monument in Washington to honor the more than 3,500 recipients of the nation’s highest award for military service. The bill also recognizes Arlington, Texas, as the new home of the National Medal of Honor Museum, also under the management of the foundation.'
The time is NOW for our own Lowcountry SC US Rep. Joe Cunningham, who sits on the Natural Resources Committee, to step up on behalf of the already rightful home of the Medal Of Honor Museum, to make some serious waves to kill this bill. Same goes for SC US Congressman Joe Wilson, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. Please stay tuned!