Fantastic news!! As the House prepares to come back into session next week to conduct the people work, we are just 117 signatures away from our intermediate goal of 3,000 signatures in support of redesignating the Robert E. Lee Memorial as Arlington House National Historic Site. Show one more person the petition and encourage them to support the initiative. We'll break through the 3,000 signature ceiling tomorrow on our way to 5,000.
MORE FANTASTIC NEWS!! In the last couple of days, four (4) more members of Congress have signed on the the House resolution H.J. Res 76 (one each from GA, MD, WA & WI) as cosponsors. That brings us to 36 cosponsors in the House of Representatives. Progress is indeed being made.
We want more Congresswomen and men to sign on as cosponsors. With your help we can do this. Send your representative a note asking for their support and to become a resolution cosponsor. It's really easy. Check out the interactive petition mapper. We have received reports from others using the mapper who reported SUCCESS!! Here is how you do it.
- Find your zip code or congressional district and 'click' on it.
- On the popup select the link to contact your elected members of Congress (House and Senate).
- Go to the elected official's contact page to send them a constituent note.
- Use the draft text provided on the mapper or below to help frame your message.
Insert your legislator’s title and name here, I am a constituent residing in insert your town or city here. I am writing to ask you to support the legislation (USE ONE -- H.J. Res 76 OR S.J. Res 35) introduced by (USE ONE -- Congressman Don Beyer (VA-8) OR Senator Tom Kaine (VA)) to redesignate the National Park Service site known as the ‘Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial’ to the ‘Arlington House National Historic Site.’ The decisions made by Lee at Arlington House and after the Civil War are important to interpret. That history cannot and should not be excluded. However, the history at Arlington House and the space around the historic site is much broader than Lee. It includes the lives and narratives of dozens of people who were enslaved by Lee and his wife that also should be interpreted. Doing so will share all of the history and be attractive to all visitors. Congress established the current name of the 'Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial' and only Congress can redesignate it. Insert your legislator’s title and name here, I encourage you to sign on to this bill as a cosponsor, take up this matter with your fellow legislators and pass the resolution to redesignate Arlington House as a National Historic Site.