Support Rep. Don Beyer’s Bill To Block The Arch

President Trump proposes to build a massive arch near the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery. It would resemble the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, except it would be topped with golden statues representing Lady Liberty and two eagles. At 250 feet tall, it would dwarf the nearby Lincoln Memorial–standing nearly twice as tall. It would also obstruct the symbolic view of the Lincoln Memorial from the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery–and the reverse view of the cemetery from the Memorial, two of the most evocative vistas in Washington, D.C. That sightline between the Memorial and the Cemetery was deliberately designed to represent post-Civil War reunification. Veterans and historians argue it should not be disrupted. While the arch would ostensibly be in observance of the nation’s 250^th birthday, when asked who the arch was for, Trump replied, “Me.”

Arlington Rep. Don Beyer has introduced legislation to prevent construction of this project. Three dozen other Democratic representatives have already announced their support, and Rep. Beyer hopes that some of his Republican colleagues will join him as well. Please add your support by emailing Rep. Beyer at https://beyer.house.gov/contact/.    

Problems with Trump’s arch include:  

• Construction would desecrate the entry to the nation’s most honored cemetery, the hallowed resting place of more than 400,000 servicemembers, veterans, and their families, by overshadowing that entrance with a monument to a man who has never served a day in uniform. Building a colossal structure dedicated to a living president on the approach to the Arlington cemetery would disrespect those laid to rest here;

• It would glorify a living politician in a manner that has no precedent in American civic life. Major monuments in Washington honor leaders only after their deaths and are chosen by citizens, not by the leaders themselves;

• It would be illegal, as neither its construction nor its financing with taxpayer funds has been authorized by Congress, as is required by law;

• Construction would run 20 hours a day, seven days a week, for two to three years, severely disrupting traffic along one of the most heavily traveled corridors connecting D.C. and Northern Virginia, and the arch’s placement would require new traffic signals throughout Memorial Circle, where none currently exist, generating congestion;

• Key practical questions remain unresolved: while the FAA has completed a preliminary review finding no significant airspace impact, it has not yet conducted a full aeronautical study. Meanwhile, a comprehensive vehicular traffic study has yet to be completed, despite the National Capital Planning Commission specifically requesting one; and

• It would be visually incompatible with the elegant, restrained style of other major American monuments–clad in concrete and granite rather than the marble and limestone of its neighbors, and crowned with a 60-foot gilded figure.  

Trump is pursuing a systematic effort to inscribe his name and image across the symbols of American civic life. Among many other things, he has put himself on passports, money, the annual national park pass, and banners over entrances to federal departments. He illegally added his name to the Kennedy Center. He has demolished the White House East Wing to build an opulent new ballroom, and installed gilded decor throughout the building. The arch is the most visible of these efforts to transform the appearance of official Washington into a personal monument to Trump

The arch is part of a dangerous campaign to place one person above the institutions and traditions that define American democracy. Give Rep. Don Beyer your support as he works to convince a Republican-controlled Congress to block its construction. Email Rep. Beyer at https://beyer.house.gov/contact/ and tell him you support his legislation to prevent the arch from being built.