Joe Neguse Accuses Trump Administration Of Engaging In 'Obtuse Censorship' Of American History

Forbes Breaking News

During a House Natural Resources Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) spoke about the Trump administration installing signs encouraging people to report "negative views" on American history.

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00:00With that, I now recognize the Ranking Member, Mr. Ngoose, for his opening statement.

00:05Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning to my colleagues and to the witnesses who are here today.

00:10Thank you all for being here and look forward to your testimony.

00:13We appreciate you sharing your time, your expertise, and your stories at the subcommittee.

00:17I'd also like to take a moment to recognize one of our witnesses here today, Ms. Kenney,

00:22who testified before this subcommittee.

00:25Hard to believe this was six years ago.

00:28Back in 2019, I served on the committee at the time, and I believe you were in high school at that time,

00:34and now returning here as a recent college graduate.

00:38So congratulations on your accomplishment,

00:40and having now testified in front of the United States Congress twice is certainly a very notable achievement.

00:48Ms. Kenney's history with the World War II Women's Memorial started back when she was in the fifth grade,

00:52and so very inspiring to see someone so committed to an issue from such a young age and continuing that work.

00:57The World War II Women's Memorial Act introduced by Representative Dingell and Representative Fulcher

01:02is an important piece of legislation to authorize the placement of a memorial in the National Mall

01:06to honor the over 18 million women who served on the home front during World War II, as the Chairman articulated.

01:12Last Congress, I was proud to sponsor and pass legislation of a similar nature authorizing the Women's Suffrage National Monument

01:20to be placed on the National Mall, and through that process really learned just how underrepresented women's history is on the National Mall

01:28and across our memorials, and so I'm very grateful for your efforts here,

01:33and I certainly look forward to bringing my young daughter, Natalie, to the National Mall one day

01:38to show her both this monument and the Women's Suffrage Monument as well

01:42and honor the women who have proudly shaped our country.

01:46It's important, I agree with the Chairman, about celebrating our shared American heritage at our national parks

01:51and honoring stories that call for historical reflection.

01:55I would be remiss if I just didn't take a moment here to also acknowledge,

02:01I'll acknowledge two elephants in the room,

02:03but the first is what's happening at our national parks with respect to the signage.

02:09I think as the Chairman is well aware, just by way of example,

02:13I first introduced the Amache National Historic Site Act in April 2021

02:19to enact protections for that site with Representative Ken Buck,

02:23one of our dear colleagues, a Republican member and a friend of mine from Colorado.

02:27That memorial honors a site where thousands of Japanese Americans

02:32were incarcerated during World War II.

02:35Unfortunately, the Trump administration has now begun installing signage

02:40in all of our national parks, including the Amache site,

02:44asking visitors to report what they deem as, quote,

02:48negative views or information about America or American history.

02:55I just find it a bit disconnected for this committee

03:00to consider new legislation, which I support,

03:05to create new memorials that honor American history

03:07while the Trump administration is engaged in some sort of odd,

03:12obtuse censorship at these same memorials

03:17that the Congress is attempting to create.

03:19And I hope that we can find an opportunity to address that issue as well.

03:23I know we're going to hear testimony on legislation

03:26to designate America's National Churchill Museum in Missouri

03:29as National Historic Landmark, certainly something I support.

03:32The museum is, of course, located at Westminster College,

03:36where Churchill delivered his Iron Curtain speech in 1946.

03:39And as we hear testimony in this bill,

03:41very important to remember how that speech reflected

03:43on the dangers of impeachment

03:44and the importance of standing up for democratic values.

03:47So I'm certainly looking forward to that.

03:50H.R. 2306, the Adams Memorial, Great American Heroes Act.

03:53Again, legislation that I support, I think one of the tragedies here

03:56in our nation's capital is that of all of our founding fathers,

04:00that the President Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams,

04:04and, of course, the Adams family more broadly

04:06are not recognized properly here in our nation's capital.

04:10My understanding is this has been a long time coming.

04:12It's been almost 20 years,

04:14and I'm hopeful that we can really make some durable progress.

04:18And finally, I certainly support the STARS Act,

04:21Ms. Molloy's legislation to provide free entry

04:24to national parks next year on Constitution Day

04:26in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States,

04:29encouraging Americans to get outside,

04:30enjoying our public lands.

04:31Certainly a great way to celebrate our nation.

04:33But again, and this is not with reference to Ms. Molloy,

04:36because I think, again, her legislation is legislation I support.

04:41But that second elephant in the room that I was alluding to

04:43is that the Appropriations Committee is meeting right now,

04:46not that far from here.

04:47They're doing markups over Fiscal Year 2026's budget,

04:51and that includes the National Park Service,

04:52which is being gutted, totally gutted.

04:56Thousands of employees terminated, laid off,

05:00part of reductions in force, mass attrition.

05:02And it is unclear to me.

05:04I mean, I'm all for providing more opportunities

05:06for American citizens to enjoy our national parks.

05:10I'm not sure how they're going to do that

05:11if there's no one there staffing them.

05:12And so I hope we can have a conversation,

05:16a broader conversation,

05:17that links those two important components

05:20to our national parks.

05:22And with that, I will yield back

05:24and look forward to the discussion.

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