{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=91780822-CEC5-4AEE-AD68-DFF1FCB6CD49", "Barrasso: Keep the Bells of Balangiga in Wyoming", "2017-11-15", "2017", "2017-11", "Republican", "House", "WY", "John Barrasso", "B001261", "www.barrasso.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso\u2019s remarks.\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C.\u2014 Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor on the Bells of Balangiga veterans memorial at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne and its significance to veterans in Wyoming and across the country.\r\nBarrasso also outlines why he opposes a provision in the conference report to accompany the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act that would allow the secretary of defense to dismantle veteran memorials like the Bells of Balangiga and move them to a foreign nation.\r\nExcerpts of Senator Barrasso\u2019s remarks:\r\n\u201cI also want to speak today about an issue that is very important to our veterans in Wyoming and across the country.\r\n\u201cThe 2018 National Defense Authorization Act conference report includes a provision that allows America\u2019s veterans memorials to be used as political bargaining chips.\r\n\u201cI think it\u2019s a very bad idea.\r\n\u201cThere\u2019s a specific provision in this report that allows the secretary of defense to dismantle a veteran memorial and move it to a foreign nation.\r\n\u201cWe have one of these memorials at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming.\r\n\u201cThis memorial honors American soldiers who were massacred more than one hundred years ago in a town called Balangiga, in the Philippines.\r\n\u201cOn September 28, 1901, a group of 400 Filipino insurgents armed with machetes attacked American soldiers in Company C, of the 9th Infantry.\r\n\u201cIt was a sneak attack while the Americans were mostly unarmed and having breakfast.\r\n\u201cThe insurgents signaled their attack by ringing the bells of the local church.\r\n\u201cCompany C had 75 soldiers \u2013 and 48 of them were killed in this attack, or died of their wounds, or went missing in action.\r\n\u201cIt was the worst defeat for the American Army since the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876.\r\n\u201cThese bells were used in an act of war against American soldiers.\r\n\u201cThe Army legally brought the bells back to America to honor the troops of Company C who were lost in this massacre.\r\n\u201cThe 11th Infantry Regiment brought them to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and today the Bells of Balangiga are part of the memorial at F.E. Warren Air Force Base.\r\n\u201cOver the years, the Department of Defense and the State Department have tried a few times to move these bells to the Philippines.\r\n\u201cIn 2012, President Obama\u2019s Department of Defense even tried to cover up the fact that it was secretly making plans to move the bells.\r\n\u201cI have opposed these efforts every step of the way.\r\n\u201cThe majority of veterans in Wyoming oppose dismantling this veteran memorial.\r\n\u201cThe Wyoming Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion have both passed resolutions against moving the bells.\r\n\u201cThe American Legion has also taken a stand on the national level.\r\n\u201cIt has opposed the removal, and encouraged Congress to pass legislation to protect veteran memorials.\r\n\u201cDuring the confirmation hearing for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, I asked him specifically about the Bells of Balangiga.\r\n\u201cHe made a commitment to me that he would include Congress and our veteran organizations in any conversations regarding war memorials.\r\n\u201cI recently received a letter from the State Department and they say they are unaware of any plans to move the bells to a foreign country.\r\n\u201cWe need to make sure that no plans ever develop.\r\n\u201cThis conference report will take away any lines of communication between the administration and the Congress on this issue.\r\n\u201cAmerica needs to make clear that we will never stop honoring our war dead \u2013 no matter where, or when, they sacrificed.\r\n\u201cTo dismantle this memorial would be an insult to the memory of the men who were massacred that day in the Philippines.\r\n\u201cWyoming has a strong tradition of honoring our veterans \u2013 especially those who gave their lives.\r\n\u201cThe United States should not be using our veteran memorials as bargaining chips to negotiate with foreign nations.\r\n\u201cFor this reasons, I oppose Section 2864 of the conference report on the National Defense Authorization Act.\r\n\u201cI will continue my work to protect our veteran memorials.\r\n\u201cI will continue to use my voice for the soldiers of Company C who have no voice of their own.\u201d\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=91780822-CEC5-4AEE-AD68-DFF1FCB6CD49"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9773210622370243, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}