During a House Natural Resources Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) questioned Chair of the Adams Memorial Commission Jackie Gingrich Cushman about using taxpayer dollars to fund a memorial for John Adams, second president of the United States.
00:00I'm going to take a couple minutes for questions here.
00:03First of all, Mr. Riley, I have to say one of the most favorite winters I had in northern Wisconsin,
00:11which can be long, is we had a seasonal business, a hospitality business,
00:18and so I had time in the winter to read.
00:20I read the entire, it was in a six-volume,
00:23tone that Winston Churchill wrote in regards to the run-up to World War II
00:29and then post-World War II.
00:31That is one of the most seminal works of that era that we shall ever see,
00:39and it's a tribute to Churchill that so many Americans understand who he was
00:47and where his standing is in world history.
00:51I'd like you to talk about the approach that has been taken with this
00:58where it's federally recognized without placing it under federal management.
01:07Tell me about that approach, and do you believe it works,
01:10and do you think it could be extended to other opportunities?
01:15Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I will be delighted to answer your question,
01:20but before I do, I would be remiss by not pointing out that with us today is Edward Churchill,
01:28the great-grandson of Clementine and Winston Churchill.
01:32I think he may have just left the room, so I missed my moment,
01:34but he was with us today to end this.
01:37We're always delighted that Churchill's are back in Washington.
01:40To your question, designated America's National Churchill Museum formally as a national landmark
01:47I think will pay great dividends.
01:50The museum is located at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, the capital of Calloway County,
01:55population 12,000.
01:57It's a very small town in a rural part of the country,
02:02and we believe that designating this as a national landmark will be really instrumental in driving tourism.
02:10We are the largest tourism attraction in the county.
02:14We believe that this recognition will also allow us to consider future partnerships with federal agencies.
02:23The final section in the bill asks the Department of the Interior to help conduct a resource study
02:30to explore just what you're talking about.
02:33Are there other opportunities for us to partner more formally to continue to advance the mission of the museum
02:41to inspire and inform next generations?
02:44So this approach, recognition without federal acquisition, has worked for you.
02:48Is that accurate?
02:49Yes.
02:49We believe this is going to be a terrific opportunity for us, yes.
02:55Ms. Cushman, how does the Adams Family Memorial help support President Trump's executive order?
03:07You know, President Trump has really taken leadership here in recognizing our 250th
03:12and just talking about these great pieces of statues or whatever the case may be,
03:21buildings, statues, all the rest, that we recognize the greatness of American history.
03:26How does this help support the President's executive order?
03:29Chairman Tiffany, thank you for that question.
03:32I think it does it in a variety of ways.
03:33As you mentioned earlier, the 250th is here not only to commemorate but educate,
03:37and we're partnering with the Adams Memorial Foundation,
03:40which will provide the education component around the Adams Memorial,
03:43really talking about their life of service and inspiring our citizens today
03:47to also engage in the life of service.
03:49Also, President Trump talks a lot about unity.
03:52This is a bipartisan bill.
03:53You know, Adams was, he was the Federalist President, the last Federalist President,
03:57so we have no, right, we have no Federalist Party today.
04:00He is loved by, as you hear, everybody loves Adams.
04:02I have yet to meet anyone who does not love Adams.
04:04If you don't love Adams, please let me know afterwards.
04:07So it really is a great unifying.
04:09What I really like about this memorial in particular is that it recognizes not only John Adams and John Quincy,
04:15but also their wives and their family, which is so important to our American story.
04:21I mean, this family gave so much to our nation, and for us to be able to recognize that
04:26and realize this memorial is not in service to them.
04:29It's really in service to our nation.
04:31It allows us a chance to unify around something that we understand spurs us to be better than we should be,
04:38which they did, right, we're all called to action and the chance that we have.
04:42But also, it reminds us that people can make a huge difference.
04:46And lastly, I'm sure you know, but President Trump recently hung both Abigail and John Adams in the Cabinet Room.
04:52And so, again, the founders are increasingly important,
04:55and I think now at the 250th, it's the right time to go back and finish the Adams Memorial.
05:00Yeah, one quick final question.
05:01For the fiscal hawks that are out there, could you elaborate a little bit on why you think it's necessary for taxpayer dollars to be put into this effort?
05:11It's a fantastic question.
05:12Absolutely.
05:13I'm a fiscal conservative, so I think it's a great question.
05:15I want to address it head on.
05:16So we do have fiscal conservatives on the commission, including myself.
05:19We have Congressman Molinar, who just left, but I appreciate him coming,
05:23and Congressman Morgan Griffith, who I'm sure you know is a fiscal conservative.
05:27So this is a very measured approach.
05:28It provides parameters, so it is a max $50 million, one-to-one private-public match.
05:35So we raise the private funds first.
05:37Then we come back during the construction phase and ask for appropriations.
05:41It also limits 4% in terms of administrative costs.
05:44So it is very well contained, and if you look at the FDR Memorial, which is 80% publicly funded,
05:49or the Eisenhower, which is 90% publicly funded, this is max 50-50%, you know, matched with the public funding.
05:56Very, very measured approach.
05:58Thank you all for your testimony, and now I'll turn to the...
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