Bob Kerrey: “if I could make a comment on that subject, very much a part of this effort to try to find a compromise on this memorial…”

“if I could make a comment on that subject, very much a part of this effort to try to find a compromise on this memorial, in the beginning I opposed the design and they redesigned it. I am very pleased now to be able to support both the design and construction. One of the things, I say to my friend from Virginia, that happened during this process was that there was a deletion made from this design that I think at some point needs to be corrected --not on this site because its too small a site to accommodate it--and that is the construction of a museum that tells the full story. And I think it has relevance, in fact, to the debate on this bill because when George Marshall accepted Roosevelt's appointment to be Chief of Staff of the Army on September 1, 1939, the Armed Forces of the United States of America were approximately 137,000 people. Marshall had to build the Army to 8 million people in order for it to be an effective fighting force, and it wasn't just the military people who responded. There was a huge civilian effort that supported that buildup. It is a story of how dangerous it is, even though you may not see an enemy on the horizon at the moment, how dangerous it is to stack arms for the United States of America.”