AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Facing certain death 179 years ago, William B. Travis penned a letter stating he would never surrender or retreat from the Alamo, where nearly 200 people died during a 13-day siege by Mexican troops.
The event was memorialized in a battle cry - “Remember the Alamo!” - that Republican state Sen. Donna Campbell repeated Tuesday during closing testimony on her “Protect the Alamo” bill, which was left pending in committee.
Several lawmakers questioned Campbell’s motives in drafting the bill, which would prohibit Texas’ General Land Office from giving another country ownership, control or management of the 18th century mission that stands as a symbol to the state’s independence.
Campbell said her New Braunfels constituents had concerns about the site’s sovereignty. It is one of five San Antonio missions up for consideration as Texas’ first UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
“Anything that starts with the ’UN’ gives me cause for concern,” Campbell said.
Several people who have worked on the UNESCO designation testified against the bill. Shanon Miller, director of San Antonio’s Office of Historic Preservation, said it remains unclear what impact the bill might have on the designation, but added, “We’re just concerned with putting our best foot forward.”
Democratic Sen. Carlos Uresti said he was concerned that Campbell’s bill was “sending the wrong message” to UNESCO, adding that the 21 members who’ll vote on the designation this summer might “perhaps feel that they’re not welcomed.”
Betty Bueché, Bexar County’s director of facilities and parks, said that nothing in UNESCO’s operational guidelines states that the organization would intercede in maintenance or ownership of world heritage sites. Instead, she and others noted, the designation would make available world renowned material curators who could assist in historical restoration, currently needed on the Alamo’s facade.
The Alamo is owned by the state and under the conservatorship of the general land office. Director General Larry Laine told the committee that new Land Commissioner George P. Bush is not interested in selling or giving up authority over the Alamo, and is supportive of the UNESCO designation.
Witnesses testified that the land office attempted to sell public land owned by the state in 2007, when Commissioner Jerry Patterson tried to sell the Christmas Mountains near Big Bend National Park. Richard Viktorin, a public interest advocate, said he and others defeated the sale, and the land remained public and in the hands of Texas State University.
Campbell said although Bush has no plans to sell the Alamo, her bill would prevent future commissioners from doing so.
Committee vice chair Sen. Craig Estes, a Republican from Wichita Falls, said he didn’t understand what problem the bill would solve, adding that he couldn’t imagine the Alamo being sold “with or without this bill.”
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