Yesterday, the D.C. War Memorial re-opened after a year-long restoration, and there’s already controversy over the monument that honors 26,000 District residents who served in World War I and the 499 who died.

Congressional meddling continues apace, as one Texas Republican introduced a bill that would change the memorial—-currently the only local memorial on the National Mall—-into a national World War I memorial.

“We have memorials for Vietnam, World War II, and Korea on the Mall, but we don’t have a memorial for all of those who served in World War I,” Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) said as he introduced the legislation.

Sure, so why not build one?

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is having none of this co-opting, however. In a statement, she says, “The brave men and women of World War I deserve national recognition for their unique contributions to our country, but not at the expense of the legacy of other veterans, and certainly not at the expense of District World War I veterans.”

Photo by SchuminWeb via Wikipedia / GNU Free Documentation License