Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) is taking legislative aim at President Trump’s proposed 250-foot “triumphal arch” near Arlington National Cemetery.
Beyer announced Wednesday that he will introduce the Arlington National Cemetery Viewshed Protection Act this week alongside Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.). The bill would explicitly prohibit a triumphal arch from being built in the area, permanently bar federal funds from being used for one, and prohibit similar “non-Congressionally approved structures” on any National Park Service land in the National Capital Region, according to a press release from Beyer’s office.
Beyer, whose parents, grandparents and sister are buried at the cemetery, said in the release that the arch would “desecrate” the site.
“Arlington National Cemetery is sacred ground, the resting place for some of our nation’s greatest heroes,” Beyer said. “It is unthinkable that we would desecrate this hallowed space to build a monument to Donald Trump’s ego.”
He also called on lawmakers of both parties to join the effort, saying “Congress must draw the line at dishonoring our fallen with such naked displays of narcissism.”
The bill, scheduled to be introduced during Friday’s pro forma session of the U.S. House, would have 25 Democratic co-sponsors at introduction, including Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and Virginia Reps. Bobby Scott and Suhas Subramanyam.
In a separate letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron sent Wednesday, Beyer pressed the administration for traffic studies and other planning documents related to the project. He raised concerns about disruptions to the George Washington Memorial Parkway, Washington Blvd, Arlington Blvd, Memorial Avenue and Arlington Memorial Bridge, as well as the Mount Vernon Trail.
“Nearly 70,000 vehicles cross the bridge each day, most of which are from Virginia, and many more pass through the environs on their way through Northern Virginia,” Beyer wrote.
Beyer also pointed to the 2018-2020 rehabilitation of Arlington Memorial Bridge, which caused significant traffic disruptions in the area, as a comparison point. That work was undertaken to “protect the public from potentially fatal accidents or deterioration” of the heavily used span, Beyer wrote, while Trump has said the arch is being built “for himself personally.”
The long-time local congressman, who’s seeking reelection, warned that if the agencies could not produce such studies, the absence could “be widely interpreted as a sign of apathy or disorganization on the part of the Administration regarding the outsized local impacts of its decision-making.”
The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, made up of Trump appointees, approved the arch’s design last Thursday despite testimony from preservation groups and a separate federal lawsuit by veterans seeking to halt the project. The administration has signaled it does not intend to seek congressional approval, instead citing a 1924 federal report that called for a pair of 166-foot columns on the same site that were never built.
Trump’s arch proposal has drawn local opposition since it surfaced publicly earlier this year. New renderings released in April showed a 250-foot structure topped with a Lady Liberty-like figure holding a torch. Preliminary surveys and testing at the site began earlier this month. The National Capital Planning Commission, which oversees construction on federal land, has the arch on its June agenda.
