WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senators Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania and Tim Kaine of Virginia on Thursday unveiled bipartisan legislation aimed at strengthening and extending federal protections for historic battlefields tied to wars fought on American soil, as the nation moves toward its 250th anniversary.
The American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act of 2025 would reauthorize the long-standing preservation program through 2035 while expanding federal support for nonprofit groups working to protect and restore battlefield sites across the country.
McCormick said Pennsylvania’s battlefields, spanning conflicts from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, remain vital links to defining moments in American history. He said preserving those sites honors the sacrifices of past generations while educating future ones and driving economic activity in surrounding communities through heritage tourism.
Kaine pointed to Virginia’s deep military history, from Yorktown and Appomattox to modern-era sites, calling battlefield preservation especially important as the United States approaches its semiquincentennial. He said the legislation builds on a bipartisan battlefield preservation measure signed into law last year and would provide additional tools to safeguard historically significant land.
Under the proposal, Congress would reauthorize the American Battlefield Protection Program through 2035 and increase the federal cost-share for nonprofit preservation projects from 50 percent to 75 percent. The bill would also direct the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior to conduct studies of sites connected to the French and Indian War and the Mexican-American War, conflicts that helped shape the nation’s territorial and political development.
The legislation would authorize $20 million in federal funding each fiscal year through 2035, a move supporters say would provide long-term stability for preservation planning and land acquisition efforts nationwide.
Lawmakers backing the bill said the measure is designed not only to protect historically significant landscapes, but also to ensure that future generations can visit, study, and better understand the events that shaped the United States.
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