Senate Passes Schaffer Bill Protecting American War Relics
April 28, 2021
Tim Schaffer News
COLUMBUS—State Senator Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster) announced today the unanimous passage of Senate Bill 59 by the Ohio Senate. The bill, sponsored by Schaffer, will enact protections for American war relics and prevent them from being removed, sold, or destroyed. The bill will be known as the “Ohio Veterans' Heritage Protection Act”.
“In my district we have a truly historic war relic. In fact, it is a crown jewel of Lancaster—an Civil War cannon used by Ohio native General William Tecumseh Sherman during the Battle of Shiloh and his famed March to the Sea through the South,” said Schaffer. “We must preserve these pieces of history that remind us of the sacrifices brave men and women made in the name of freedom and liberty.”
This legislation aims to protect American war relics by preventing the sale, destruction, removal, or relocation of war relics located on public property. These relics range from the Revolutionary War to the current conflicts in the Middle East. The bill would allow for exemptions in cases that a war relic is returned to the federal government, in need of repair, on temporary display, or is being used for re-enactment purposes. Fines of up to $10,000 will target those who purchase or remove war relics. Fines are to be donated to the Ohio History Connection.
“These war relics have a value to society that no private collector can match, a reminder to future generations of what it has taken to preserve our freedoms,” said Schaffer. “Allowing that reminder to be forever lost to a private collection or melted down as scrap is a detriment to the public as a whole and a stain on the memory of those who served and sacrificed."
Senate Bill 59 will now be sent to the Ohio House for further consideration.
“In my district we have a truly historic war relic. In fact, it is a crown jewel of Lancaster—an Civil War cannon used by Ohio native General William Tecumseh Sherman during the Battle of Shiloh and his famed March to the Sea through the South,” said Schaffer. “We must preserve these pieces of history that remind us of the sacrifices brave men and women made in the name of freedom and liberty.”
This legislation aims to protect American war relics by preventing the sale, destruction, removal, or relocation of war relics located on public property. These relics range from the Revolutionary War to the current conflicts in the Middle East. The bill would allow for exemptions in cases that a war relic is returned to the federal government, in need of repair, on temporary display, or is being used for re-enactment purposes. Fines of up to $10,000 will target those who purchase or remove war relics. Fines are to be donated to the Ohio History Connection.
“These war relics have a value to society that no private collector can match, a reminder to future generations of what it has taken to preserve our freedoms,” said Schaffer. “Allowing that reminder to be forever lost to a private collection or melted down as scrap is a detriment to the public as a whole and a stain on the memory of those who served and sacrificed."
Senate Bill 59 will now be sent to the Ohio House for further consideration.