TOPEKA — Plans to erect a 7-foot-tall bronze statue of President Dwight D. Eisenhower on the grounds of the Kansas Statehouse are moving forward.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the Kansas Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to support installation of the privately financed statue, sending the measure to the House.

The $140,000 likeness of the Abilene native depicts the Supreme Allied Commander speaking to a group of U.S. soldiers preparing to parachute into Normandy in June 1944. Gov. Sam Brownback’s office took the lead in raising money for the memorial, and at least $100,000 has been secured.

Merrill Eisenhower Atwater says his great-grandfather is an example to “all in the county that come from an impoverished background” of “what hard work and true dedication can do to shape the world we live in.”