[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 42 (Thursday, March 21, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E361]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE INTERNATIONAL CENTENNIAL PLANNING CONFERENCE PREPARING FOR 
                     THE ANNIVERSARY OF WORLD WAR I

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                          HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 21, 2013

  Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I proudly rise today to welcome and 
acknowledge our national and international visitors to the 
International Centennial Planning Conference. The conference is being 
hosted by the National World War I Museum, located in Missouri's Fifth 
District, on March 22-24, 2013. With the recent enactment of Public Law 
112-272 to establish a World War I Centennial Commission, it is vital 
that the exchange with our historical counterparts begin.
   This was the first global war, declared on July 28, 1914, after the 
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The United States entered 
the war in 1917 and concluded with the signing of the Armistice on 
November 11, 1918. The world would never be the same as the 
ramifications changed nations, warfare and technology. The reality of 
war comes with the understanding of its effects, not only 
geographically but on the military and all of the people who endured 
the suffering of war.
   Representatives and scholars from the allied nations of Australia, 
France, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, and Belgium will join 
representatives from the United States to exchange ideas on 
international planning for the Centennial. This workshop will foster 
coordination of commemorating these historical events and rediscovery 
of our combined involvement in World War I. The lessons of war will be 
discussed and viewed through an international prism to obtain a better 
understanding of how the ``War to End All Wars'' impacted and changed 
the course of history.
   In Kansas City, we have progressed as a city under the flame of the 
Liberty Memorial. The Liberty Memorial stands as a testimonial to the 
past and a quest for our world living in peace. Since my time as Mayor 
of Kansas City, I have considered the Liberty Memorial and now the 
National World War I Museum a treasure worth fighting to protect and 
preserve.
   As the World War I Centennial Commission's twelve members meet to 
plan for the commemorative events across our nation, it will do so 
under the flame of the Liberty Memorial and benefit from the work 
garnered from this planning conference.
   Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and our colleagues in the House join me 
in wishing the participants of the International Centennial Planning 
Conference success in their collaboration. There is a lot of work to do 
in honoring and commemorating the history from our first global war.

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