20 U.S.C. § 2141 — Findings; purpose

(a) Findings. Congress finds that—
(1) serving in the military during war is the greatest sacrifice a citizen may make for the country;
(2) 4,700,000 Americans served in World War I, 16,500,000 in World War II, 6,800,000 in the Korean Conflict, 9,200,000 in the Vietnam Conflict, and 3,800,000 in the Persian Gulf War, while countless others served overseas in military engagements throughout the 20th century;
(3) the Department of Veterans Affairs reports that almost 19,000,000 war veterans live in the Nation today;
(4) only about 3,400 World War I veterans are living today, and of the roughly 6,000,000 World War II veterans alive today, almost 1,500 die each day;
(5) oral histories are extremely valuable to historians, researchers, authors, journalists, filmmakers, scholars, students, and people from all walks of life;
(6) war veterans’ memories of their conflicts are an invaluable resource and can provide a rich history of the Nation and its people, although people who served in conflicts often do not talk with family and friends about their experiences;
(7) it is in the Nation’s best interest to collect and catalog American war veterans’ oral histories so future generations have original information about the lives and times of people who served and the conditions they endured, so Americans will remember those who served and can learn firsthand about war’s heroics, tediousness, horrors, and triumphs; and
(8) the Library of Congress is an appropriate place to collect, preserve, and make public an archive of these oral histories because it is the Nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and its largest and most inclusive library in human history, with nearly 119,000,000 items in its multimedia collection. Its American Folklife Center has expertise managing documentation projects and developing cultural and educational programs for the public.

(b) Purpose. This subchapter creates a federally sponsored, authorized, and funded program. The program will coordinate nationwide collection of video and audio recordings of personal histories and testimonials of American war veterans. It will also assist and encourage local efforts to preserve the memories of the Nation’s war veterans, so current and future generations of Americans can hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war and the sacrifices of people who served in uniform during wartime.