[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 183 (Thursday, November 9, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7154-S7155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   EISENHOWER MEMORIAL GROUNDBREAKING

  Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the remarks 
that my colleague, Senator Pat Roberts, made at the groundbreaking 
ceremony of the Eisenhower Memorial on November 2, 2017, be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

     Remarks by Senator Roberts--Eisenhower Memorial Groundbreaking

       Thank you, Greta, for that kind introduction. And thank you 
     so much for your longstanding support of this project. You 
     have been a true soldier in the Eisenhower memorial army in 
     helping to get us here today.
       I know I speak for all gathered for this memorable event, 
     when I say it is great to be here today.
       First, let us reflect for a moment about a few members of 
     the Greatest Generation who brought us to this place today. 
     Ted Stevens and Dan Inouye--two giants in the Senate, who 
     authored the legislation to create the Eisenhower memorial.
       When Ted and Danny started us down this path, it was both 
     an honor and privilege for me, a new senator from Kansas, to 
     be asked to help memorialize our most famous Kansan, Dwight 
     David Eisenhower.
       Then there is our Chairman Emeritus, Rocco Siciliano, 
     another WWII veteran. For over a decade, Rocco led our 
     efforts. He did so with the qualities that made him 
     successful in government and the private sector: integrity 
     and inclusion.
       When Rocco called me and said it was time to pass the 
     leadership torch--and would I agree to succeed him as 
     Chairman? I said, it would be an honor, but there was a 
     qualification:
       I called another World War II vet, a great American who 
     fought for our country on the battlefield, in the House, in 
     the Senate, and on the campaign trail as our Republican 
     nominee for president, another really great Kansan, Bob Dole, 
     who also played a key role in making the World War II 
     Memorial a reality.
       I said, ``Bob, I can't do this without you.'' And as he has 
     always done when his country called, he said, ``Pat, Ike is 
     my hero: I'm in.''
       Ladies and gentlemen, I am not sure we would be standing 
     here today without the support of Bob Dole who stepped in as 
     Finance Chairman of the memorial. He called all the former 
     Presidents and Vice Presidents, and asked them to come on 
     board. And not one of them said, ``No.''
       We were hoping Bob could join us today, he is watching on 
     C-Span, but please join me in thanking him for his lifelong 
     commitment and service to our nation and to this project. 
     Bob, thank you.
       And I know we would not be standing here today without the 
     support and vision of the Eisenhower family. Their commitment 
     to making sure this memorial appropriately captured their 
     grandfather, as both General and President, has ensured 
     generations of Americans will know his legacy.
       Being an Eisenhower fan is something of a tradition in the 
     Roberts family. In 1952, when I was just fifteen years old, I 
     was with my dad, Wes Roberts, at the Republican National 
     Convention in Chicago. I watched Ike receive the nomination 
     on the first ballot to be our party's candidate for President 
     of the United States.
       Later, during his inauguration, I met President Eisenhower. 
     When he entered the room, whether you immediately saw him or 
     not, everyone knew it--with that ruddy face and great smile. 
     He had that special charisma.
       And when I shook his hand that day, I never dreamed I would 
     be here this day leading the effort for his memorial on the 
     National Mall.
       After all these years, Why do we ``Still Like Ike?'' If he 
     had done nothing else in life, his service as Supreme Allied 
     Commander, savior of western democracy, should earn him the 
     respect and admiration of every human being whose life, peace 
     and prosperity that victory made possible.
       But it isn't just the magnitude of his service that we 
     revere. It is the manner in which he served. The quiet 
     humility. The strength and resolve. The man was so humble 
     that upon the surrender of the German Army, his message back 
     to Washington simply said, ``Mission Accomplished.''
       Ike may not have coined the phrase, ``speak softly and 
     carry a big stick'' but he did embody it. It was not 
     necessary for him to raise his voice or wave his arms to 
     project strength. Those were the tactics of his adversaries.
       He spoke quietly. He did not make idle threats. Yet, when 
     he did speak the force of his words was clear.
       The story of Dwight David Eisenhower is the story of 
     America. His ascendency parallels America's. At the end of 
     the 19th century, Eisenhower was still a young man in

[[Page S7155]]

     Kansas, and America was a young democracy--isolated and 
     protected by two vast oceans.
       Over the course of his career, America matured both 
     politically and culturally, like that young man who left 
     Abilene, Kansas, to go to West Point.
       By the time Eisenhower retired from public life, the United 
     States was the leader of the free world and at the summit of 
     historic prosperity and peace.
       It has taken a long time for the historians to discover and 
     figure out Eisenhower's greatness. President Eisenhower 
     anticipated problems and averted them before they ever became 
     a crisis. His steady hand, his quiet strategy, didn't draw 
     attention like the administrations that followed him.
       Now, six decades later, for that kind of unique leadership, 
     he is considered one of our greatest presidents, which is why 
     we are here today.
       Like Lincoln, he came from very humble origins. He never 
     forgot the hometown that made him, and famously said, ``The 
     proudest thing I can claim is that I am from Abilene'' (June 
     22, 1945, Abilene, Kansas).
       He saw the promise that America holds for everyone and the 
     reciprocal responsibility to serve the country that offered 
     him so much.
       Ike's values were America's values--strength, humility, 
     discipline, integrity.
       Now, we live in an era where it can seem those things no 
     longer matter.
       But they do.
       We wouldn't be where we are today without them.
       We are here today to ensure Ike's place in American and 
     world history, for his achievements both as Supreme Allied 
     Commander Europe and as the 34th President of the United 
     States.
       When asked about his legacy, Eisenhower responded, ``The 
     United States never lost a soldier or a foot of ground in my 
     administration. We kept the peace. People asked how it 
     happened--by God, it didn't just happen, I'll tell you 
     that.''
       We build this memorial today not only to honor a single 
     person, but as a symbol for all generations of the greatness 
     of America and what our values have made possible at home and 
     abroad.
       Lest anyone forget what can be achieved in the land of the 
     free and the home of the brave, let them come here and 
     understand what Eisenhower, and America, have done. And what 
     they, in turn, can do for themselves and for our nation's 
     future.

                          ____________________