from the outset have expressed concern about the scope and scale of this memorial. the original idea was actually to put a simple statue at the eisenhower executive office building. this was our family preference in the beginning. and so this has evolved a great deal. to say that the eisenhower family had gone along with every aspect of this process would not be correct. and we found it important to correct the record. i think you ll hear from others who have their own views on this. so i will leave the rest of that question to be answered by others. mr. garamendi, do you have questions? i have a couple, if i could. could you just briefly summarize why the family believes president eisenhower would have rejected this design? well, first of all, he was a very modest man. he would have expected something of far less dramatic, far less he would have wanted something on a smaller scale, i believe. this is an enormous thing. i did mention the metal scrims, which i think ar
express differing opinions on the proposed design. i know that all the critics and advocates alike want a memorial, a monument that truly honors president eisenhower and helps future generations of americans understand and appreciate his role in american history. to my staff who started actually drafting notes for me, i want them to know that i was alive when president eisenhower was elected, but i was still crawling, not necessarily that. most of my memories have come from books that have been read about him which is where many of us learned about the significant contribution of president and general eisenhower. some members of congress today probably served under general eisenhower in world war ii and some served in korea when he was president a century ago, but whether we come from personal memories or from our studies he is to all of us a man who led our fathers and grandfathers and the crusade for europe and later a president who hauled and contained soviet expansion dur