. >> ranking member, members of the subcommittee, ladies and gentlemen, my name is howard segermark, i am not an architect or artist the i worked on capitol hill here for a staffer, staffer for both republican and democratic members. i am a founder and past chairman of the national civic arts society. ncas, a nonprofit organization, dedicated to education, about classical and traditional architecture and art. those traditions, that the founding fathers, believed embodied the principles of a democratic republic. want to thank the board and members of the ncs for research and advice on the testimony and our current chairman, and our secretary, mr. chairman, our monuments are of central importance to our national identity and historical memory. controversy is nothing new in the history of presidential memorials. indeed it is, embroiled, virtually every single one. to mention most recent example, it took three separate competitions, to settle on a final design for the fdr memorial. in the first instance the design was rejected. because the the roosevelt family objected to it. but why is