A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to appropriate funds for the onslow vietnam veterans memorial.
Whereas, millions of men and women have proudly served in the United States armed services; and
Whereas, many of these men and women have trained at Fort Bragg Army Base, Pope Air Force Base, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base, Marine Corps Air Station New River, and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point; and
Whereas, the locations of these training facilities have been beneficial to North Carolina and the surrounding areas, generating millions of dollars for the communities and attracting new residents and businesses; and
Whereas, there is strong community support in building the Onslow County Vietnam Veterans Memorial; and
Whereas, plans have been made to locate the Onslow Vietnam Veterans Memorial adjacent to the Beirut Memorial in the Lejeune Memorial Gardens at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; and
Whereas, the present Beirut Memorial draws an average of 4,000 visitors per year and generates more than $400,000 into the local economy; and
Whereas, the addition of the Onslow Vietnam Veterans Memorial would increase visitors by the thousands each year and increase tourism spending in Onslow County and North Carolina; and
Whereas, the Onslow Vietnam Veterans Memorial will feature the names of the 58,229 men and women who died in the Vietnam War while serving in the armed forces as well as the names of the POW/MIAs still missing; and
Whereas, the Onslow Vietnam Veterans Memorial will provide a place of solitude for visitors to remember their loved ones and for Marines to remember those gone before them; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Onslow Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit corporation, the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) for the 2006‑2007 fiscal year to assist with the construction of a memorial to honor the men and women who have served during the Vietnam era in the armed forces of the United States.
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2006.