Partisanship on those changes. That starts tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. Enjoy American History tv this week and every weekend on cspan3. Causes my mind to go back to the truth we learned at home, beliefs would shake my paths and their guidance of their children. Love of god, fairness in human relations, independence, and responsibility concern for the welfare of others and conviction that each free individual could, through his own efforts, achieve a full life. It is a firm duty of each of our free citizens to make the cause of his country before the comforts of himself. We must be ready to dare all for our country, for history does not trust the freedom to the weak, we must be willing individually and as a nation to accept whatever sacrifices may be required of us. A people that values its privileges above its principles. These men came here to storm these beaches, not to gain anything for ourselves, but just to preserve freedom, systems of selfgovernment in the world. Many thousands died for ideals such as these. But these people gave us a chance and they bought time for us so we make it better than we have. We must find a way to gain an eternal peace with this world. You and i, my fellow citizens, need to be strong in our faith, that all nations under god will reach the goal of peace with justice. We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations may have their great human needs satisfied. In the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of Mutual Respect and love. Good evening, and welcome to the dedication ceremony for the dwight d. Eisenhower memorial. For everyones health and safety, please exercise safe social distancing and ensure that your masks remain on when you are not eating or drinking. To begin our program, were honored to be joined by the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division as they were with general eisenhower the night before d day, to present tonights colors. They will be accompanied by the president s own u. S. Marine band. The National Anthem will be performed by voices of service who will then be followed by kansas own rachel mast who will honor our flag with her rendition of the pledge of allegiance. Please rise for the presentation of colors and please remain standing for the National Anthem and the pledge of allegiance. O say, can you see by the dawns early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming . Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming . And the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh, say, does that starspangled banner yet wave oer the land of the free and the home of the brave . [ applause ] i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you to the 177th fighter wing from the new Jersey National guard for providing flyover coverage for this evenings ceremony. To give tonights invocation, were pleased to have with us u. S. Senate chaplain barry c. Black. Chaplain black served in the u. S. Navy for over 27 years and completed his distinguished military career as the chief of navy chaplains. In june 2003, rear admiral upper half barry black was elected to serve as the 67th chaplain of the United States senate and has been in that role ever since. Here is chaplain black. You may be seated. Let us pray. Oh, lord, the light of lights, how majestic is your name in all the earth . We marvel that you care about humanity and have crowned us with glory and honor. Today accept our gratitude for the life and legacy of president Dwight David Eisenhower who more than self his country loved and mercy more than life. We praise you that his love for freedom summoned our nation to embrace our best hopes. Thank you, mighty god, for his ability to plant seeds of confidence, to build bridges that helped bring unity to a divided nation and world. May this memorial dedication remind us of americas opportunity to continue to strive to create a more Perfect Union where justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. Lord, give us the grace to love what you command and to desire what you have promised. Grant that guided by your light we may reach the light that never fades, that ill lumened by your truth that we may reach the truth that is complete. Bless this evening, our food, fellowship, reflections, and inspiration, we pray in your sovereign name, amen. To recognize those who made this memorial possible and to acknowledge tonights attendees, please welcome the vice chairman of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission and the representative of californias fifth congressional district, mike thompson. Good evening. Im congressman mike thompson. Thank you for joining us today to celebrate one of our countrys greatest leaders. Whether youre here in person or watching online, youre taking part in a unique tradition. This will be only the 7th president ial memorial to be built in washington, d. C. Congress past the bill creating the eisenhower memorial while president bill clinton was in office. Today, two decades later, were gathered to dedicate this memorial and recognize a lifetime of Public Service. This ceremony, this memorial, would not be possible if it were not for the 12member commission. Let me recognize my colleagues on the commission who gave their time and energy to establish the dwight d. Eisenhower memorial. Please stand when you hear your name. The chairman senator pat roberts of kansas. [ applause ] senator joe manchin of west virginia. [ applause ] senator gary peters of michigan. Senator dan sullivan of alaska. Congressman Sanford Bishop of georgias second district, congressman mike simpson of idahos second district. Congressman Matt Thornberry of texas 13th district. Former kansas senator bob dole. [ applause ] Commission Member alford judolic. Commission member susan barns harris. And Commission MemberCatherine Ann stevens. Thank you all for your leadership and your devotion to this magnificent project. I would like to acknowledge a few other people who are with us this evening. Secretary of interior, David Bernhardt. Secretary of transportation, elaine chao, and secretary of education, betsy devos. Your respective departments all hold important pieces of president eisenhowers legacy. Thank you for joining us to celebrate this occasion. And thank you to secretary devos and the Education Department housed in the building directly behind me for being such gracious neighbors throughout the construction process. Thank you Speaker Nancy Pelosi for taking part in tonights dedication and for your personal attention helping to make this memorial a reality. Were grateful that youre here and for all that you have done over the years for this important project. I would also like to thank the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley, for being with us today. Thank you, general. Also i want to recognize Brigadier General robert fullford who is representing the marine corps. And colonel who is representing the 101st Airborne Division. Thank you both for being here. Were also grateful to have the ambassador of the republic of china and deputy chief of mission from italy with us tonight. Thank you for representing your beautiful nations and the support you have shown for this memorial. I would also like to recognize tomas osinski. He is the architect who created the incredible tapestry you see behind me. [ applause ] this one of a kind piece displays the iconic normandy coastline in peacetime which general eisenhowers troops invaded on dday. Standing at 80 feet high and 450 feet long, there is not another tapestry like this anywhere in the world. Tomas, thank you for your incredible work. [ applause ] i also want to recognize the Senior Leadership from Clark Construction who are here with us. Randy seewald, david snorf, and jared olbroy. Thank you for your dedication to completing this fantastic memorial. I want to recognize president eisenhowers great grandson and greatgreat grandchildren who are representing the eisenhower family. We have merle atwater, a great grandson of the president as well. Were honored to have you on this special day. Serving on this commission to memorialize a truly Great American hero has been a tremendous honor. Thank you very much. [ applause ] to make a special recognition, please welcome the host of fullcourt press and voice of americas plugged in, greta van susteren. [ applause ] good evening. Just to start, if you think this weather is rough, i bet just think of what it was like on the English Channel back in 1944. This weather is nothing like what members of our military did for us. This is a great night tonight. We honor general eisenhower, his spectacular military career and im sure that senator bob dole would want me to mention some of the generals accomplishments. Without his service, this nation, the world, would be a very different place. The general of course didnt stop with the military career which youre going to hear much about tonight. Like others, many from world war ii went onto serve this nation in other capacities. He became president and as president , general eisenhower, did incredible things. In 1956 the president eisenhower championed the formation of the interstate highway system. Look where that took us all. All across the great nation. In 1958, president eisenhower established nasa, the space Agency Responsible for the space program. Look where it took us, to the moon. And when racial segregation was struck down in schools and one Arkansas School district defied the law, it was president eisenhower who sent in federal troops to uphold the Supreme Court decision fighting segregation. He led us in war and as president and he led us through years of no war, of fairness and prosperity. Which brings me to another world war ii vet. Robert dole. And with it comes a personal story. This story doesnt go back to world war ii. Thats before i was born. But it goes back to april 2004. The night before the opening of the world war ii memorial just down the street. I was doing a live show that night next to the memorial celebrating the fact that the following day, that memorial would be dedicated. I had the perfect guests that night. Senator robert dole. Famous for not only being a member of congress and Senate Majority leader from kansas, but as a quiet hero himself. He enlisted in the early years of world war ii and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant before shipping off to italy. While in italy, in april of 1945, he was seriously wounded by german machine gunfire as he attempted to rescue a radio man during an assault on an enemy position. It has been reported that his fellow soldiers upon seeing the extent of his injuries thought that all they could do was to give him the largest dose of morphine they dared and write m on his forehead so nobody else who found him would give him a second fatal dose. His chances of living were slim. But he didnt give up. He never has. And he beat overwhelming odds while spending many years in a military hospital. For his military service to his nation, to all of us, dole was decorated three times, two purple hearts for his injuries and the bronze star with valor for his attempt to assist a downed radio man. In 2019, i was horrified, embarrassed because as i was sitting there next to him, talking to him about the memorial, world war ii, i said to him, how did this come about . And he said, world war ii veterans lobbied congress for the land, and world war ii veterans raised the money. I was horrified. My generation which reaped all of the benefits of all the sacrifices of general eisenhower and all of the world war ii vets had not raised the money for that monument when were the ones who owed a great thanks to him and everyone else who fought there. We know without general eisenhower and all of the others who served this would be a very different world. How noble they were, fighting for ideals and upon winning the war, not taking one square foot of land and in the end rebuilding the nations that were host to the war. My conversation with senator dole did not stop with the world war ii memorial. When he told me that the project was under way to build this memorial, something that he and senator roberts of kansas wanted to do, i thought, you know, i need to be part of this in some way and of course thats what brings all of us here tonight, to this dedication of this memorial to general eisenhower and i just want to say, spiking tonight about general eisenhower is a great honor and its also a great honor to be here tonight to thank all of the world war ii vets, all of the current people serving in uniform, and they all helped us get here. This memorial general eisenhower is a great inspiration, a great reminder to all america and to all of the great things our nation does and all of the great leaders who led us here. A special thanks to senator roberts, to senator dole, and for everyone else who has participated in this project so we can continue to remind ourselves of what we can do. Here is senator dole. Im sorry i cannot be with you this evening as you honor a Great American, Dwight David Eisenhower. He was a wonderful man. He was honest. He was sincere. He had an integrity. He was divisive and he spent much of his time in world war ii trying to reconcile the british and the french and the americans. But he did it with expertise. He kept everybody on board and because of his brilliant approach, we won world war ii and then eisenhower moved on and became a Great American president. Eight years of peace and prosperity and they made many, many tough decisions. So im very proud to be from kansas. And im really proud to call general eisenhower, president eisenhower, major eisenhower, whatever, my hero. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, please welcome bret baier chief Political Correspondent for fox news. [ applause ] good evening. Im bret baier. Wasnt that wonderful to hear from senator dole tonight . Its a true honor to be here. Obviously, senator dole, a true american hero, Public Servant. My day job is to cover the news across the u. S. And around the world. But im also a huge fan of general eisenhower, our 34th president. So much so i wrote a book about him three days in january, Dwight Eisenhowers final mission. And the thing i loved about ike was what has made him so beloved to this day, to generations like mine and younger, who werent around during his era. How he was perfectly reflecting the american ideal. He was an ordinary man who answered the call to perform extraordinary duties and deeds. When the war was over, he was humble about it. He realized that his fame was earned as he put it in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends. Called to serve once more as president , he was fully aware of his shortcomings. He was a soldier, not a political animal, not a politician, but he was always trusted and he always trusted the American People to be smarter even than their leaders and his own personal code was to associate with and learn from people who knew more than he did. Throughout his life, eisenhower maintained the manner of the scrappy kid from kansas. And you see that here in this memorial. He knew that what made America Great was not its psuperiority with our Weapons Systems or dominance of our economy, as he liked to say, what counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. This is a really special event. Were sorry its raining. But it doesnt take away from this moment. I know i can speak on behalf of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission and say this ceremony would not be the same if it were not for all of you here tonight and all that youve done. Whether youre here in person or watching on cspan or streaming online. Thank you for coming, thank you for watching and recognizing americas stream commander during world war ii and her 34th president. One quick reminder, obviously, for everyone to keep social distancing, health and safety, we do ask the attendees to practice that and to keep your masks on during the event when youre not eating or drinking. Our next speaker is a world renowned architect whose works including the gugenhiem museum, the art gallery of ontario and many other prestigious buildings around the world. In 1957 he completed his first professional design, his own house, in california, which he worked on, actually, as an apprentice. And his most recent is this, the dwight d. Eisenhower memorial. His first design for a public project. Unfortunately he is unable to join us tonight in person. But he did provide a recorded greeting. So please welcome frank gehry. Im so greatly honored to be part of this memorial in washington, d. C. To prepare for this formidable task, i studied everything, i Read Everything that i could find on his accomplishments. And they were vast. What a legacy. At first glance the site wasnt or didnt seem great. Surrounded by traffic and office buildings. But that was it. With the help of many starting with words of encouragement and support members of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission, led by pat senator pat roberts, we got it done