40-foot war memorial cross defended by 7 Louisiana congressmen

All seven Louisiana Republicans in Congress joined a GOP petition asking the Supreme Court on Friday (July 27) to prevent removal of a 40-foot-tall World War I memorial cross in suburban Washington D.C. The Bladensburg peace cross was erected in 1925, at what is now a busy intersection in Prince George's County, Md., to honor 49 local men who died in the war.

A group of 109 members of Congress led by Sen. Ted Cruz of and Steve Scalise of Old Jefferson filed the amicus brief with the court to express support for the cross. All signatories are Republicans save Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

Among them are Louisiana's Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy and Reps. Clay Higgins of Port Barre, Mike Johnson of Benton, Ralph Abraham of Alto and Garret Graves of Baton Rouge. The only Louisiana member who did not endorse the brief is the state's only Democratic congressman: Cedric Richmond of New Orleans.

Local families and the American Legion paid to build the marble-and-cement monument. Since 1961, it has been owned and maintained by a public agency, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning commission.

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