Rep. Dean Dohrman, a Republican, represents Johnson, Pettis, and Saline counties (District 51). He was elected to his first two-year term in November 2012. In addition to his legislative duties, Rep. Dohrman is an online professor. Rep. Dohrman is a member of Warrensburg and Sedalia Area Chamber of Commerce, and Sedalia Lions Club. He attends Wesley United Methodist Church. A graduate of LaMonte High, Rep. Dohrman earned his PhD from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2004. Born in Warrensburg, Rep. Dohrman currently lives in LaMonte.

Capitol Report: Sept. 19, 2013

Posted Friday, September 20, 2013, at 3:42 PM

One of our most interesting tourist destinations in mid-Missouri is Fulton, home to the Churchill Memorial. It is now known as the National Churchill Museum.

The story began in 1946 when Winston Churchill, the wartime prime minister of Britain, visited the campus and gave his description of a divided Europe. His "iron curtain" speech gave birth to one of the most famous phrases of the Cold War. The memorial began in 1960 when the commemoration committee decided to move St. Mary's church from London to cover the museum where Churchill material would be housed.

The memorial has three separate parts: the museum, the church, and the Berlin Wall monument. The museum is the largest collection of Churchill documents outside of Britain. It contains an excellent visual history of the life of Churchill and a great gift shop. The church was the design of Christopher Wren, heavily damaged by World War II bombing, and disassembled and reassembled in Fulton. The wall, the living symbol of a divided Europe for nearly 30 years, is a tribute to the prime minister's description of the postwar continent. "Behind the iron curtain" became an utterance of despair for Western Europe and the U.S. The Berlin Wall stood as a truly physical barrier to illustrate that iron curtain.

President Harry Truman escorted the prime minister by train. Along the route from Washington, D.C., the two chatted, played cards, ate, and shared a few drinks. The residents of Fulton enthusiastically greeted the two when they arrived. On March 5, 1946, Churchill gave his famous speech to a packed gymnasium. There the crowd heard the famous words:

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow. Athens alone -- Greece with its immortal glories -- is free to decide its future at an election under British, American and French observation. (www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/sinews-of-peace-iron-curtain-speech.html)

It is an honor to serve the 51st District in the Missouri House of Representatives. Each week I will issue a capitol report to keep you informed of activities in Jefferson City. Any concerns or issues you might have are of great interest to me. I look forward to your input and thoughts, so please feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions, concerns, or ideas to improve our state government and the quality of life for all Missourians. My telephone number is 573-751-2204 or you may contact me by email at dean.dohrman@house.mo.gov.