The design originally unveiled by President Bill Clinton included only 50 columns honoring the 48 states of the Union during World War II and only two of the eight non-state jurisdictions at the time of the war, the territories of Alaska and Hawaii that subsequently were admitted into the Union. On June 2, 1997, the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly approved a Concurrent Resolution requesting that a column honoring the territory of Puerto Rico's participation in the war effort be incorporated in the final design. Its author Sen. Kenneth McClintock began a lobbying campaign that preceded the expansion of the number of columns to 56, honoring the 48 existing states in 1945, the District of Columbia and the seven existing territories of Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Philippines and the United States Virgin Islands.