Gov. Likes Ike, Signs First Bill in Abilene

Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer was in Abilene on Wednesday for a special event. The governor stopped at the Eisenhower Presidential Library to officially sign his first bill.

The bill signed by Colyer authorized the placement of a statue on the Statehouse grounds honoring former President and five-star General Dwight D. Eisenhower. The statue depicts Eisenhower in his military uniform as Supreme Allied Commander of the European Expeditionary Force, speaking to U.S. troops just before the launching of the D-Day invasion in June 1944.

The bill was sponsored by Abilene Senator Elaine Bowers, and cosponsored by Salina Senator Randall Hardy, who were both at the signing event. Abilene Representative John Barker was also at the event.

Governor Colyer told KSAL News it was important to him to make this bill his first. “Eisenhower was truly the greatest leader of the 20th century,” he said.

The statue will be a replica of one designed by the late Lawrence artist Jim Brothers. The original bronze sculpture currently stands in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. A second, taller version stands at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virgina.

After the signing event the Governor spent some time speaking with students from Ellinwood High School, who were visiting the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum on Wednesday.