Rancor V. Logic Over Great War Site

Kansas City, Mo. – Only the U.S. Senate stands in the way of making the World War One Memorial in Kansas City the official, national memorial. Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver chose Veterans' Day to note House passage of the measure by a vote of 148 to 1.

There is still Senate opposition to a measure backed by Senators James Webb and Jay Rockefeller to place the Memorial in Washington, D.C. Cleaver( Dem, Mo. 5th Dist) says the two will come around once they realize the power of the Liberty Memorial structure, it's history, the emotions it evokes--"I think once they begin to see that, I think they will hopefully back away from their legislation and then the Senate can then embrace the McCaskill-Bond legislation and it'll go to the President's desk."

No money goes with the bill, except $500 thousand to plan the centennial celebration of the end of the First World War. Memorial directors intended the complex to retain its autonomy, free of the National Park Service.

When it was dedicated after the end of the Great War, an estimated 200 thousand people attended.