WASHINGTON (Oct. 2, 2000)

The top officer of the 2.8-million member American Legion expressed confidence today that the courts will permit construction of the National World War II Memorial on The Mall here.

The project was approved Sept. 21 by the National Capital Planning Commission. But a group opposed to building a memorial on The Mall announced plans to seek an injunction to block the construction. Groundbreaking has been scheduled for Veterans Day near the Rainbow Pool, the centerpiece of the memorial's design.

"The National World War II Memorial is the product of 18 public hearings during a seven-year approval process," American Legion National Commander Ray G. Smith said. "It's profoundly ungrateful to the World War II generation to ask the courts to undo what a fair, open and lengthy process has determined: that there is no better place than The Mall to honor the generation that rescued the world from tyranny. The courts should agree with the American people -- including the men and women of The American Legion and our brothers and sisters in the veterans community -- who have donated $140 million to this long-overdue memorial.

"The Mall, which features the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, symbolizes the evolution of our republic. Its splendor will be enhanced by a memorial honoring America's triumphant sacrifice in the defining moment of the 20th century."

The American Legion, the nation's largest veterans organization, and its affiliated organizations - the American Legion Auxiliary and the Sons of The American Legion - donated about $4 million to the American Battle Monuments Commission, the executive-branch agency authorized by federal law in 1993 to create the memorial.

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