kevin: i would like to thank you once again for coming and spending the day talking about such a controversial issue, spending the day learning from one another. i am thrilled by the speaking panel we had today. dr. robinson opened this up in true style. not have the body of knowledge about the american civil war that we do today if it were not for dr. roberts. to haveolutely thrilled carolina genie back here in the

valley and back in virginia and we were so graced and blessed to have you with us on the panel today. christie coleman's remarks were remarkable and the work that she has been doing in richmond on behalf of the monuments commission there has been daunting and it was a very interesting to have her come and talk to us about everything she has been doing. john koski is a wealth of knowledge on many topics. if you ever get the chance to have lunch with him, i am sure he would wow you. if there is anybody that knows anything more about the confederate battle flag, i do not know who would be an thank you so much for being with us. it has been a wonderful day and it begs the question, why would the shenandoah valley battlefields foundation host this event? there are other battlefield preservation organizations, national and local organizations that are doing everything they can to run away from this issue. if they are not running away from the issue, they are at

least doing everything they can to keep their heads down and keep themselves out of view, lest they become part of the public furor. a good friend of mine, bill brown, who is with us today, came up to me before the event and gave me a gift. i think i will share it with you now. i think it is very apropos. i will not belabor this but i will take you back to march 5 of 1836. march 5, 1836 in a little mission in southern texas, the alamo and a man by the name of curl -- colonel william travis. that his position was dire.

there was going to a very little that they could do to win the day, if anything against the overwhelming forces that santa ana had brought against the force defending the alamo. against all odds, colonel volume travis assembled his small party and begin a speech to them, recounting the importance of what they were doing and with a flourish, he drew his sword cpsan 3 some of the soil from the spot where colonel travis etched that line in the sand. the shenandoah valley

foundation drew a line in the sand. which are a line in the sand and said that we will not back away from this issue. it is too important to this future and would wager that line in the sand, we asked just like colonel travis did, we asked those around us our closest compatriots in this fight for preservation to step over the line with us and to stand with us shoulder and shoulder to say that preservation is important, that our history is important, that we will not stand for anyone who is not inclusive in this conversation in that we want to foster a broader conversation. we want to foster an open-minded look at these issues and we want to foster discussion that will

lead to commonalities and hopefully more commonalities and differences of opinion as we move into the future. by a politician from vermont when he came to cedar creek to dedicate a vermont marker there something i will never forget and i will use it today. here as we do not meet the descendents of enemies, we meet here today as the ancestors of friends. those of you who decided to cross this line with us and stand beside us and have tough discussions and dig into these tough issues have decided to make the world that are in our own small way, you stood beside historic preservation and you stood beside your neighbors in

trying to foster an open and honest discourse about this difficult issue. come up with any answers today, but we had a lot a powerful discussions. iheard them in the halls, them during the breaks, heard them at lunch, are them in the questions we were being asked, and i heard the speakers talk about the phenomenal interaction they were having with folks that are here today. the shenandoah valley battlefields commission -- foundation is committed to saving and preserving the story of the american civil war as it played out here. but the trustees recognize that we have a responsibility of one of the largest, most effective battlefield reservation organizations in virginia to take a stand, to draw a line in the sand and to ask others to stand with us.

to that end, the shenandoah foundationtlefields commissio issued a statement that i would a policy that i would like to read a portion of to you today. i will rid the preamble and then the first four items under the policy. the last three being administrative only. the battlefields and historic remembranceaces of and commemoration that memorialize and tell the story of the soldiers and civilians, union and confederate, enslaved and free americans, who lived through the tumultuous and defining years of the american civil war. in the decades of reconstruction and civil rights struggles that followed. monuments are and always have been an important part of that

commemoration and an important part of interpreting history and understanding the past. they provideds, focal points, tangible icons that help visitors understand that they are on hallowed ground , where americans of all sides struggled to deal with the wrenching issues that divided our nation and forged the country that we are in today. monuments tab for thousands of years expressed -- monuments have for thousands of years called to us to reflect. understanding, to draw meaning from the past for our own time, the shenandoah valley battlefields foundation considers monuments to be historic in their own right. to be important features on

historic rural and urban landscapes and to be worthy of protection. accordingly, the shenandoah valley battlefields foundation makes the following statements of policy. we are opposed to the eradication or removal of plaques, statues, monuments, place names and other public honors associated with the history and heritage of the united states. they shenandoah valley asserts,lds foundation rather than taking down the monuments, confederate or otherwise, additional monuments should be added at historically appropriate sites throughout the historic district that addressed the subject of slavery, the underground railroad, self emancipation, the 13th through reconstruction, the terrible jim crow era, and the civil rights acts that have day.s into the modern

existing monuments can be left intact and complement it with contextthat provides and reflect a broader history. our history sometimes involves terrible judgments and shocking inhumanity to our fellow humans but that history should not be hidden. instead, we should learn from our flaws, recognize our progress, and acknowledge that still more progress must and will come. the shenandoah valley existsields foundation -- supports future and existing state laws on damaging or otherwise removing monuments and strongly emphasizes the belief that monuments should remain located where originally placed. lastly, in the unfortunate event that a monument to union or confederate soldiers, civil war officers or commanders or civilians of that. removeded or free, is from its original location, and

if said monument is considered relevant to the history of the struggle from civil war to civil rights, the shenandoah valley battlefields foundation is open to assisting with the appropriate relocation of such a monument to a national historic district. the battlefields foundation envisions the shenandoah valley to be a place of unmatched scenic beauty were generations can gather to understand, commemorate and draw meaning from our nation's heritage. we feel that our work to preserve battlefields, to preserve stories, to preserve monuments, and the work you have started today by opening discussions about such competition issues is doing just that. with that, i thank you. >> [applause]

kevin: i think we do have time if there are any last-minute questions before we go out. all right, have a safe trip home. >> [applause] >> senate confirmation hearings for brett kavanaugh to be ininated will happen september, senators are likely to question him on roe v. wade, on tuesday at 8 p.m., c-span's

landmark cases looks take -- takes an in-depth look at roe v. wade. we will also are david savage about judge kavanagh and the abortion issue. and now you are watching american history tv, every weekend, beginning saturday at 8 a.m. eastern, we bring you 48 hours of unique programming, exploring our nation's past. americans history -- american history tv is only on c-span3. >> 70 years ago in june of 1948 the soviet union blocked rail, water, and road access to western sectors of berlin. in response the western powers organized the berlin air lift, which transported supplies via cargo planes to the isolated city until may of 1949. next, on reel america, nato background to berlin. a 1962 film documenting the city

of berlin from the end of world war ii to the construction of the berlin wall in 1961. produced by the nato information service this half hour film details the berlin air lift, creation of the north atlantic treaty organization, and the problems facing the city and the western allies as the cold war developed. >> the building of walls, the erection of barbed wire and barriers can never long divide peoples, never create a permanent prison for the human spirit. for the strength of the wall is measured only by the fear of those who built it. [helicopter engine]