Bipartisan group of military veterans pushing for new memorial on National Mall
A bipartisan group of 25 military veterans serving in Congress requested a meeting with President Biden on Monday to ask for his help finding a location for a memorial dedicated to service members who died while fighting the war on terror.
"We strongly believe that White House leadership indicating your support of honoring our [Global War on Terrorism] veterans with a memorial on The National Reserve would ensure this legislation’s prompt passage into law," the veterans, who comprise the For Country Caucus, wrote in a letter to Biden.
In 2017, then-President Trump signed the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Act, which authorized the memorial on federal land in Washington, D.C., but it did not provide a specific location.
Companion bills in the House and Senate dictate the memorial should be built on the National Mall in Washington near the World War II, Vietnam and Korean War memorials.
However, these bills have met resistance from the National Parks Service. The acting associate director of park planning told the Senate National Parks Subcommittee that the area in question, known as "the reserve," was a "completed work."
"Congress amended the Commemorative Works Act of 1986 in 2003, establishing the ‘Reserve’ and declaring it a completed work of civic art where ‘the siting of new commemorative works is prohibited,’" the official, Michael Caldwell, testified in June.
Caldwell also noted that other efforts to persuade Congress to grant exceptions to the prohibition, including petitions to create World War I and National Desert Storm and Desert Shield memorials, have failed.
Since the hearing, there has been no action taken on either the House or Senate bills. The For Country Caucus hopes a meeting with Biden will change that.
"Twenty years after September 11th, now is the time to begin the establishment of a memorial for the thousands who served in America’s longest war," the letter to Biden states. "We respectfully request a meeting with you at your earliest convenience to discuss this legislation and to ask for your help in making this memorial a near-term reality."
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