Current Status of Efforts to Re-dedicate the D.C. War Memorial as a National and District of Columbia World War I Memorial

Edwin Fountain, a director and founder of the World War I Memorial Foundation, testified on behalf of H.R. 938, the Frank Buckles World War I Memorial Act, at a hearing before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands on Jan. 24, 2012. Fountain’s testimony is on the subcommittee Web site, and hearing discussion of H.R. 938 is available from the subcommittee’s archived Web media at time code 53:38. Information on H.R. 938 is on the Library of Congress Thomas legislative information service.

H.R. 938, introduced by Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) on March 8, 2011, would designate the District of Columbia War Memorial in Washington, D.C., as the District of Columbia and National World War I Memorial, and would authorize the Foundation to establish a commemorative work at the site to reflect its national character. The bill would also designate the Liberty Memorial and National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, as the National World War I Museum and Memorial. Finally, the bill would “establish a commission to ensure a suitable observance of the centennial of World War I.”

The House has taken no further action on H.R. 938 since the hearing. House Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) has withdrawn as an honorary trustee of the Foundation board and reversed her original support for re-dedication of the D.C. War Memorial. The Mayor and City Council of the District of Columbia have joined her in opposition to the re-dedication proposal.

The Foundation continues to support re-dedication of the D.C. War Memorial as a national and District of Columbia World War I memorial, and also supports the establishment of a centennial commission to coordinate education about the Great War and commemoration of brave American men and women who served in it. They deserve no less.