AUSTIN, TEXAS — On Tuesday, April 2, a committee convenes to decide the fate of a bill that would protect the 80-ft marble memorial to the men who died in the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, according to reports.
The committee hearing will be streamed live onto the web, and Televised, but for those who do not live in Texas — it can be viewed in real time by clicking here.
UPDATE: now streaming live to the Texas House website. CLICK HERE.
In February, 2019, Texas State Rep. Kyle Biedermann introduced HB 1836, a measure ostensibly for the “PRESERVATION, MAINTENANCE, AND RESTORATION OF ALAMO CENOTAPH.”
Land Commissioner George P. Bush signed an Alamo redesign plan that includes dismantling and relocating the Cenotaph, an 80-year-old, 60-foot memorial to the 189 (or more) men who gave their lives for Texas.
The tall, marble monument salutes the fallen heroes of Alamo, e.g Col. William B. Travis, James “Jim” Bowie, and David “Davey” Crockett who died in 1836 at the old Spanish mission fighting Mexican dictator, Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
“Several potential locations were considered. The proposed location … will provide appropriate context and symbolism for the structure.”
San Antonio City Council wants to “honor” the men of the Alamo by moving their tombstone to the place where Santa Anna burned their carcasses following his disreputable and savage order of “Deguello” (take no prisoners, kill everyone, women, children, etc.).
The bill questions the legality of Bush’s attempt to tear down the Alamo memorial, since it was built “from federal money granted to the state … conditioned on the city using the cenotaph as a memorial in honor of the heroes of the Alamo and only for that purpose.”
To protect the Cenotaph, the bill provides that nothing can be done to or in relation to the Cenotaph without the “okay” of the following officials:
The governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and land commissioner must unanimously approve all major projects related to the preservation, maintenance, and restoration of the Alamo Cenotaph, including any project that requires movement of the cenotaph from its original location.