Hassan-Led Bill to Establish Global War on Terrorism Memorial Signed Into Law
WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan’s bipartisan amendment to establish a Global War on Terrorism memorial on the National Mall was signed into law last week as part of the annual defense bill, which also included various other key priorities introduced by Senator Hassan. Senators Hassan and Joni Ernst (R-IA) originally introduced the bill in March of 2021, and the two continued to push their bipartisan effort through Congress.
To read coverage highlights, see below:
Union Leader: War on Terror monument becoming reality
By Josie Albertson-Grove
JUST FOUR MONTHS after the last American planes left the Kabul airport, Sen. Maggie Hassan‘s bill with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) to erect a monument to the War on Terror on the National Mall has been signed into law.
The bill identifies potential sites on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for a monument to those who died in Afghanistan, Iraq and other fronts of the 20-year war.
The monument bill was shut down in September, after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) worried it could open the door for too many new monuments or other developments on the National Mall, where nothing has been built since 2003.
But Hassan and Ernst worked to fold the bill into the annual defense funding package.
[…] “Our National Mall is a representation of our country’s history — the challenges we have faced and the sacrifices we have made for freedom,” Hassan said in a statement this week. “To not have a memorial to the brave men and women who fought in the Global War on Terrorism is inexcusable, and an injustice to our service members and their families who have given so much.” […]
By Max Hauptman
A memorial for the Global War on Terrorism may still be a long way off, but it has taken an important step towards its eventual completion.
[…] Sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), the bill codifies into law a spot for the memorial along the National Mall, in the same area where monuments honoring veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam are located.
“As a nation, we didn’t have a war memorial in our capital until 1982, with the Vietnam memorial,” said Michael Rodriguez, Chairman Emeritus of the GWOT Memorial Foundation. “So it’s important – and if you consider that it’s a relatively small population – to have a place where we can recognize those men and women who signed up and served.” […]
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