The D.C. War Memorial will get to stay a city-only monument, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said Wednesday. Her office in a press release announced that she had reached an agreement with Reps. Ted Poe (R-TX), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) who were proposing a bill that would turn the memorial on the National Mall into a national World War I memorial.
Norton said they would continue to work together to pursue other options for a national WWI memorial in the District and in the meantime are re-designating the Liberty Memorial of Kansas City, MO as the “National World War I Museum and Memorial.”
“The D.C. War Memorial was built with the blood and treasure of D.C. residents, including funds from schoolchildren,” Norton said in a statement. “I am relieved and gratified that the D.C. War Memorial will remain dedicated as intended, and I remain committed to working with my colleagues on a solution to the outstanding issues of concern.”
On Tuesday, D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson submitted a resolution that supported keeping the D.C.-built memorial as a city monument. The resolution also pushes Pershing Park, two blocks north of the National Mall, as an alternative for a national war memorial.
