108 years ago today, April 6, 1917 (February 15, 1917, the U.S. Congress voted to enter the war and decide that the United States would declare war on Germany. The United States 'call to battle On April 6, 1917, the United States officially entered the war. Just minutes after President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the decision to declare war passed by Congress this week, the news immediately spread around the world. The exact time when the United States declared war on Germany was at 1:18 p.m. on April 6, when the president sat in a small room next to the entrance porch of the White House and signed the documents of war. President Wilson delivered an eloquent speech at a joint session of both houses on April 2 calling on the United States to join the European war. He said,"For democracy, the world must be safe." It is said that as soon as he returned to the White House, he heard the president say: "My message of the Union is to send young people to their deaths. How ridiculous it seems to be to applaud it." As he spoke, he buried his head in his hands and cried. The decision to enter the war was passed by the Senate with a vote of 90:6 after 13 hours of debate two days ago, while the House of Representatives passed the vote of 373:50 after 17 hours of fierce debate early this morning. In the West House of Parliament, people crowded in the side seats cheered enthusiastically when they heard the announcement of the ballot results. Among those who voted against U.S. participation in the war was Montana Republican Janet Rankin, the only female member elected to Congress. She burst into tears and slowly stood up and said,"I want to stand on the side of the motherland, but I can't vote for the war. I vote against it." The United States had begun to enter the war a few weeks earlier, when President Wilson had informed Congress that the "German government" had announced that it would sink every ship near Great Britain, Ireland, or various Mediterranean ports. The president said Germany's previous promise that passenger ships would not be attacked and that Germany would issue warnings before any submarine battle was in violation of previous promises. The president said the new policy showed that Germany was "extremely vicious" and that Germany had "declared war on all countries." Boy scouts took to the streets to celebrate America's decision to enter the war. The U.S. government's first war action was the capture of 91 German ships, 27 of which were anchored in New York Harbor. During a meeting with members of the cabinet this afternoon, the president learned that about 65 people suspected of being German spies had been ordered to arrest them and that the Navy would receive all radio stations. David Lloyd George praised America's participation in the war at a press conference in London. He said: "In a sense, the United States has leapt into a world power. The United States in the past has never been as strong as it is now. The first batch of conscripts in the United States were mothers, wives, and daughters who were drawn by lottery and looked at their relatives heading towards the battlefield (1917)