The publication is reproduced in full below:
REPLACEMENT OF BUST OF ROGER BROOKE TANEY WITH BUST OF THURGOOD
MARSHALL
Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 504, I call up the bill (H.R. 3005) to direct the Joint Committee on the Library to replace the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the United States Capitol with a bust of Thurgood Marshall to be obtained by the Joint Committee on the Library and to remove certain statues from areas of the United States Capitol which are accessible to the public, to remove all statues of individuals who voluntarily served the Confederate States of America from display in the United States Capitol, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Bass). Pursuant to House Resolution 504, the bill is considered read.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3005
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. REPLACEMENT OF BUST OF ROGER BROOKE TANEY WITH
BUST OF THURGOOD MARSHALL.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) While sitting in the United States Capitol, the Supreme Court issued the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision on March 6, 1857. Written by Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, whose bust sits inside the entrance to the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the United States Capitol, this opinion declared that African Americans were not citizens of the United States and could not sue in Federal courts. This decision further declared that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories.
(2) Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney's authorship of Dred Scott v. Sandford, the effects of which would only be overturned years later by the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, renders a bust of his likeness unsuitable for the honor of display to the many visitors to the United States Capitol.
(3) As Frederick Douglass said of this decision in May 1857, ``This infamous decision of the Slaveholding wing of the Supreme Court maintains that slaves are within the contemplation of the Constitution of the United States, property; that slaves are property in the same sense that horses, sheep, and swine are property; that the old doctrine that slavery is a creature of local law is false; that the right of the slaveholder to his slave does not depend upon the local law, but is secured wherever the Constitution of the United States extends; that Congress has no right to prohibit slavery anywhere; that slavery may go in safety anywhere under the star-spangled banner; that colored persons of African descent have no rights that white men are bound to respect; that colored men of African descent are not and cannot be citizens of the United States.''.
(4) While the removal of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney's bust from the United States Capitol does not relieve the Congress of the historical wrongs it committed to protect the institution of slavery, it expresses Congress's recognition of one of the most notorious wrongs to have ever taken place in one of its rooms, that of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney's Dred Scott v. Sandford decision.
(b) Removal of Bust of Roger Brooke Taney.--Not later than 45 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee on the Library shall remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the United States Capitol.
(c) Replacement With Bust of Thurgood Marshall.--
(1) Obtaining bust.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee on the Library shall enter into an agreement to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall, under such terms and conditions as the Joint Committee considers appropriate consistent with applicable law.
(2) Placement.--The Joint Committee on the Library shall place the bust obtained under paragraph (1) in the location in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the United States Capitol where the bust of Roger Brooke Taney was located prior to removal by the Architect of the Capitol under subsection (b).
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS AND REMOVAL PROCEDURES FOR STATUES IN
NATIONAL STATUARY HALL.
(a) Requirements.--Section 1814 of the Revised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 2131) is amended by inserting ``(other than persons who served voluntarily in the military forces or government of the Confederate States of America or in the military forces or government of a State while the State was in rebellion against the United States)'' after ``military services''.
(b) Statue Removal Procedures.--
(1) In general.--
(A) Identification by architect of the capitol.--The Architect of the Capitol shall identify all statues on display in the United States Capitol that do not meet the requirements of section 1814 of the Revised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 2131), as amended by subsection (a).
(B) Removal by joint committee on the library.--The Joint Committee on the Library shall arrange for the removal of each statue identified by the Architect of the Capitol under subparagraph (A) from any area of the United States Capitol which is accessible to the public by not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Return of statues.--A statue which is removed under this subsection and which was provided for display by a State shall be returned to the State, and the ownership of the statue transferred to the State, if the State so requests and agrees to pay any costs related to the transportation of the statue to the State.
(3) Replacement of statues.--A State that has a statue removed under this subsection may replace such statue in accordance with the requirements and procedures of section 1814 of the Revised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 2131) and section 311 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2001 (2 U.S.C. 2132).
(c) Storage.--The Architect of the Capitol shall keep any statue removed under this section in storage pending the return of the statue to the State.
SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF CERTAIN OTHER STATUES AND BUSTS.
(a) Confederate Statues and Busts.--
(1) Removal.--Not later than 45 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee on the Library, together with the Curator of the House of Representatives or the Curator of the Senate (as the case may be), shall remove all Confederate statues and Confederate busts from any area of the United States Capitol which is accessible to the public.
(2) Definitions.--
(A) Confederate statue.--In this subsection, the term
``Confederate statue'' means a statue which was provided by a State for display in the United States Capitol that depicts--
(i) any individual who served voluntarily at any time as a member of the Armed Forces of the Confederate States of America or of the military of a State while the State was in open rebellion against the United States; or
(ii) any individual who served as an official of the Government of the Confederate States of America or as an official of a State while the State was in open rebellion against the United States.
(B) Confederate bust.--In this subsection, the term
``Confederate bust'' means a bust which depicts an individual described in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A).
(b) Other Statues.--Not later than 45 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee on the Library shall remove the statue of Charles Brantley Aycock, the statue of John Caldwell Calhoun, and the statue of James Paul Clarke from any area of the United State Capitol which is accessible to the public.
(c) Storage.--The Architect of the Capitol shall keep any statue or bust removed under this section in storage.
(d) Exclusion of Statues Subject to Other Removal Procedures.--This subsection does not apply with respect to any statue which is subject to removal under section 2.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act, and any amounts so appropriated shall remain available until expended.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill shall be debatable for 1 hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on House Administration or their respective designees.
The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren) and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Loudermilk) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
General Leave
Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this bill. It directs the Joint Committee on the Library to replace the bust of Chief Justice Roger Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber with a bust of Justice Thurgood Marshall. It also directs the removal of statues and busts of individuals who served the Confederacy, and other white supremacists.
The United States Capitol is a beacon of democracy, freedom, and equality, visited by millions of people each year before COVID hit, and soon we hope to be visited by millions of people again. What and who we choose to honor in this building must represent our values.
Chief Justice Taney, who, in the Dred Scott decision, declared that African Americans could never be citizens of the United States and had no constitutional rights, does not meet this standard; and neither do the white supremacists and Confederates we continue to honor with statues today.
Justice Taney's decision continued and permitted the expansion of slavery. Those who founded, served, and fought for the Confederacy were willing to spill American blood in defense of it.
In his infamous Cornerstone Speech, Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens said that slavery and white supremacy were the cornerstone of the Confederacy.
There is no shortage of American figures like Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court, more deserving of the honor of being displayed in our Capitol.
There are some who argue that this action is an attempt to erase and forget our history. Nothing could be further from the truth. We must never forget our Nation's shameful periods of slavery, segregation, and racism.
This is, instead, about who we choose to honor, who we choose to literally put on the pedestal and display as emblematic of our values.
We are just months removed from January 6, when a mob of insurrectionists looking to violently overturn a Presidential election stormed this very building. During that awful attack, the same Confederate flag carried into battle against the United States in the 19th century was again carried into battle against the United States and into this very Capitol.
It is long past time to remove from a place of honor in our Nation's Capitol the statues and busts of those who favored war against the United States in support of the so-called government founded on a cornerstone of racism and white supremacy.
Outside the Old Supreme Court Chamber, before you get to the Taney bust, you pass another sculpture, which depicts the figures of History and Justice. Today, we can demonstrate to the Nation and the world that we have learned from our history and we continue to pursue justice.
Put another way, we can follow the advice of the great American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou. This is what she said: ``Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.''
Let us now show ourselves and the world that we are who we claim to be. Let us do better.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 3005, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, the chair of the House Administration Committee, for the opportunity to be here today.
I rise in opposition to H.R. 3005, but not because of the goals that it attempts to achieve. Many of us have been fighting for those same things. In fact, some of the comments that she made, you will find in my remarks about some of the people whose statues are here that I do not believe should be in this honored building, and I have fought for a long time to remove those. But I am in opposition to the process of which we are trying to impose to do this.
Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).
Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, Republicans and Democrats agree that racism, in any shape or form, is repugnant and must be denounced. I do intend to vote for this bill, as I did last summer, when Congress considered a similar measure.
It is interesting, however, that our colleagues across the aisle have only recently deemed the cause of removing statues worthy of immediate action. When you look at the facts, it is even more puzzling.
Since 1870, statues have been present in the United States Capitol, and Democrats retained a majority in the House 40 times since then. They have had ample opportunities to remove these statues that Members of their own party are responsible for placing in the Capitol in the first place, but have done nothing.
Again, the timing here is rather peculiar. After retaining the majority 40 times, one would think that if this were truly a pressing issue, they would have acted sooner.
For many years, I have advocated that North Carolina's statues of Charles Aycock and Zebulon Vance be removed based on their ties to the Confederacy. I have suggested that two statues of people that all North Carolinians and all Americans can be proud of be put in their place.
I am proud that the first Republican majority in North Carolina's Legislature in 140 years voted in 2015 to replace the Aycock statue with a statue of Reverend Billy Graham. Yet this request has been awaiting action by the Democrat-chaired Joint Committee on the Library for months. If they were truly concerned about removing these statues, they might be quicker to act on the requests to replace some of the very same statues.
I will look past the times the North Carolina Democrat Party used Governor Aycock's name in fundraising materials and the meetings they held in buildings that sported his name. Maybe today's vote is to compensate for the decades of inaction under a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. We will let the American people decide.
Republicans are always open for a spirited debate on this issue, and I am confident that we can find common ground.
While I plan to support this legislation and recognize its underlying intent, this is an issue that is way past its due date.
Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, before yielding to the gentleman from North Carolina, I would like to correct the record. The Joint Committee on the Library organized last Wednesday. Until last Wednesday, the Joint Committee was chaired by Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, a Republican Senator, and I have now been chair for 6 days and hope to act promptly on the North Carolina matter.
Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina
(Mr. Butterfield), the distinguished chair of the Election Subcommittee in the House Administration Committee.
Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Madam Speaker, let me first thank the chair for her leadership and friendship on our committee.
Madam Speaker, just a little bit of history. I want to take you back to 1860. President Lincoln won the general election in 1860 by winning 18 of 29 States.
Madam Speaker, the 11 States that Lincoln failed to carry were slave-
holding States. These States were fearful that Lincoln would find a way to end slavery and deprive slave owners of their free labor. Eleven Southern States immediately seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America. The CSA elected its leadership, they printed a currency, and they set up a military.
At Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, the CSA took military action against the United States of America. For the following 4 years, more than 600,000 Americans lost their lives on the battlefield, including Black Union soldiers. This was not a war between the States; it was a war against the United States by 11 Southern States, including my State.
When the Union finally won the war and both sides buried their dead, 4 million slaves were granted their freedom by the passage and ratification of the 13th Amendment.
In 1864, each State was granted the privilege to donate two statues of deceased persons to be displayed in this Capitol that depict the history of their State. These statues are now known as the National Statuary Hall Collection.
Approximately 10 of these statues depict men who volunteered to fight against the United States in the Civil War. All of these statues were donated many decades after the Civil War. Like many other statues around the country honoring members of the Confederate States of America, particularly those erected in the South, these 10 statues were not donated and installed in the Capitol until the 1900s, during the height of the Jim Crow era.
Many Americans see these statues and the timing of their placement to intimidate Black Americans and to perpetuate the notion of white supremacy. We must not continue to honor these combatants by allowing their images to be displayed in this Capitol.
The bill before us today, Madam Speaker, identifies several other statues for removal that are not part of the collection, including the bust of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, who authored the 1857 Supreme Court decision of Dred Scott that ruled that slaves could not be considered citizens and that Congress did not have the ability to ban slavery. This opinion, Madam Speaker, is regarded as possibly the Supreme Court's worst decision of all time, and the 7-2 decision was a major factor contributing to the Civil War.
Another bust not a part of the National Statuary Hall Collection is for Vice President John Breckinridge, 1856 to 1859. In 1860, Breckinridge ran for President on the Southern Democratic ticket and he lost. During the Civil War, Breckinridge served in the United States Senate, from Kentucky, but became a traitor and enlisted in the Confederate military and assigned to the Army of Mississippi, achieving the rank of Major General. And it gets worse. He was expelled from the United States Senate. Jefferson Davis then appointed him as Secretary of War. After the war, he fled the country for several years.
Madam Speaker, this statue must also be removed.
I ask my colleagues to answer the summons of our time by voting to remove these statues from the Capitol of the United States of America.
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Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, as I stated earlier, you will find that many, if not all, on this side of the aisle will agree with most of the comments, if not all the comments, that are made by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
I think we need to go back and look at where we have been as a nation and where we are going. A lot of what we put into this building should reflect not only our history but our values as a nation.
That is why I, in the past, have advocated very strongly for certain statues to be removed. I think it is important now that we have both parties looking at this.
As my colleague from North Carolina mentioned, Taney and the Dred Scott decision, I think it was during a time period when Democratic President Andrew Jackson nominated his bust to be put in the Capitol here today.
Now, it can't be overstated how much this body and this country condemn the institution of slavery. I believe, as a whole, this Nation has done that and continues to do that.
In fact, when I was in the Georgia legislature, I realized that Georgia was the sole State of the former Confederacy that had not officially condemned the act of slavery nor had condemned its participation in slavery during these dark periods of our Nation. So, I introduced legislation called the Freedom Resolution, which would formally acknowledge the ills, the hatred, and this dark period of our Nation that our government, our State government, the State that I love, was actually engaged in.
That was a very painful time in our history, but we learned from that history. I don't think anyone wants to forget that time period, else we will repeat that in some shape, form, or fashion.
As I said, it is important that the statues that we have here reflect the values of this Nation. In fact, I was very vocal many times in the past over one of Georgia's two statues here, Alexander Stephens. To say he was a racist was an understatement. As was mentioned, his
``Cornerstone Address,'' as we read it today, is just wrought with the idea that all men are not created equal.
In fact, he was very condemning of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. He even went as far as illustrating that they were insane because of our founding documents being built upon a false premise, and that false premise was the idea that God created all of us equal. He went on to say that God didn't create us equal. He went on to say that White people were superior and that that is why we have the institution of slavery, and it should be preserved.
Those are not ideas that are commensurate with what we believe in this Nation. But it was during a time period where many of the Old South, Democrat-led houses and senates and statue commissions, were trying to hold on to those old ideas and principles that our party--the party of emancipation was brought up, Abraham Lincoln. We have been opposed to these ideas. We totally wrapped our arms around this idea that all men are created equal, that we are all given equal opportunity, that all life is important, that everyone is created in the eyes of God, and that this government exists to protect those freedoms and those liberties.
But there were those in the Democrat-controlled Southern States who wanted to hold on to the old ideas, those ideas that Alexander Stephens espoused. That is why, in Georgia, the Democrat-led commission wanted to poke their finger in the eyes of the Federal Government, and they nominated or placed as statues these people who held ideas different than what we hold as a party over here, what we hold as a nation today.
My opposition to this bill isn't because of the goal that we are trying to achieve, but it is the way that the majority continues to skirt procedure in this body for the second consecutive Congress. This bill was rushed to the floor without a hearing or a markup in the Committee on House Administration.
I am sure we will hear from my colleagues on the other side that Republicans are insincere in our opposition to slavery and dragging our feet when it comes to removing these statues. In fact, it was a Republican, a good friend of mine in the State legislature, Scot Turner, who in 2020 introduced legislation that he knew I supported, and I came out publicly supporting, to remove Stephens' statue and replace it with a statue of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The States have begun to take action. As we talked about, North Carolina has already taken action to remove their statues and replace them. But I am very concerned about this committee.
In fact, the Joint Committee on the Library, the committee responsible for facilitating the removal of statues approved by State legislatures, was only organized last week. Now, this is 6 months from the start of the 117th Congress. I have been on the Joint Committee on the Library, and I was very excited the first year I was appointed to the Joint Committee on the Library because, as a fan of the Library of Congress, I thought this would be a great opportunity to participate in preserving the history and heritage of this Nation.
But of the three terms that I have been on the committee, from my recollection, the committee has only met three times, and that was an organizational meeting each time. It is hard to do your work when you don't even get together to do the work.
The lack of urgency to organize the committee is reason for enough concern. Even more disappointing is our failure to address several approved statue replacement requests from State legislatures.
In October 2015, the State of North Carolina began the process of switching out the statue of Charles Brantley Aycock with the Reverend Billy Graham. Now, this passed the North Carolina House 71-28, a bipartisan vote, and in the Senate, 44-0, a unanimous vote in the North Carolina Senate. Yet, we still have not taken action on approving that for a man who definitely had a very strong impact not only on civil rights but on our Nation as a whole, who we so respect that his body laid in the rotunda not too long ago. Yet, we still have not been able to move on getting that done, as well as several other States.
I believe that we need to focus our efforts on changing this process because I think it would mean a whole lot more, a whole lot more to this body as well as to the American people if the States who originally put those statues in here were the ones that now asked that they would be removed. I think that would be much more appropriate than this body taking action. If we reformed our process to make it where the States could actually do it, it would mean a whole lot more to the future of our Nation.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, before yielding, I just want to note, for purposes of clarifying the historical record, that the Republicans of the 19th century and the early 20th century bear almost no resemblance to the Republican Party of today. Similarly, the Democratic Party bears no resemblance to the Democratic Party of the 19th and early 20th centuries. They are the same parties in name only.
In the 19th century, the Republicans were generally the party of the northerners, and the Democrats were the party of the South, and that has switched.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California
(Ms. Pelosi), the Speaker of the House.
Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I thank Madam Chair for her leadership on this very important issue.
The point that she makes is interesting because, actually, in terms of the 14th Amendment, when Black Americans were given the right to vote, it was the Republicans who were the votes to make that happen, and the Democrats, to a person, voted against it. So, her point is well taken. Now, we are in a fight to protect that right to vote, but we will have that conversation another day. Today, we are here for a very specific purpose.
Madam Speaker, this weekend, we observe the birth of our Nation, the Fourth of July, when Americans joyfully celebrate the birth of America's independence and the blessings of liberty.
As we do so, we solemnly recognize that those blessings have been denied to so many throughout our Nation's history out of sheer bigotry and racism.
This holiday, while a celebration, is also an opportunity to take steps to right the wrongs of history, starting here, right here in the U.S. Capitol.
That is why, today, we are again passing legislation to remove statues of Confederate officials and other advocates of bigotry and removing them from the U.S. Capitol.
As I have said before, the Halls of Congress are the very heart of our democracy. The statues that we display should embody our highest ideals as Americans, expressing who we are and who we aspire to be as a nation.
Monuments to men or people who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end are a grotesque affront to those ideals. They are an homage to hate, not heritage. They must be removed.
I thank Leader Steny Hoyer, who has been advocating this for a long time and took charge and worked with Whip Jim Clyburn, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty, Chair Bennie Thompson, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Congressman G. K. Butterfield, who we just heard from, and the Chair. Madam Speaker, I thank you and the others for your leadership.
This action builds on actions taken last Juneteenth when, using my authority as House Speaker, I ordered the removal of four portraits of past Speakers from the Capitol who traitorously served in the Confederacy.
Among the Confederate statues in the Capitol that we are addressing today are Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens, president and vice president of the Confederacy, respectively, both of whom were charged with treason against America.
This legislation also removes from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol the bust of Justice Roger Taney, a defender of slavery and the author of the 1857 Dred Scott ruling, one of the most horrific stains on our Nation and the Court's history. Mr. Hoyer has been particularly interested in removing Justice Taney.
Removing these statues will not erase this stain or that of other racist acts in our history, nor will it erase the racism that exists in our country today. But it is an important and necessary step.
How can we seek to end the scourge of racism--including by passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which the Chair has championed--when we allow the worst perpetrators of that racism to be lauded in the Halls of Congress?
Congress has the opportunity and the obligation to make meaningful change. Let us lead by example.
The Taney bust will be replaced by a tribute to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, an icon of equality and champion of justice in America.
I am very proud of Justice Marshall's Baltimore roots, as a native Baltimorean, and I am happy that our Baltimore airport is named for him.
Justice Thurgood Marshall's words, uttered nearly 30 years ago, must be our inspiration. He said: ``America must get to work. . . . We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred, and the mistrust.''
He went on further to say: ``We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.''
His words were later echoed by our Baltimore brother Elijah Cummings, who said: ``We are better than this.''
Madam Speaker, we can do better, for the children. I urge a strong bipartisan vote on this important step to do better, to right the wrongs of history, and to move our Nation toward a future of justice. I do so with gratitude for all of the champions who have brought us to this important day. I urge a strong bipartisan vote.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), my good friend and the leader of the Republicans here in the House.
Mr. McCARTHY. Madam Speaker, you have been a dear friend for a long time. You have been in my office, and you sat on the couch. I sat across, in the chair. And you know the portrait that hangs in my office, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. I am proud that he was the first Republican President of the United States. I am proud of the action that he took in a defining time of our Nation. The greatest challenge ever to our Constitution was the Civil War, by long and by far.
{time} 1530
The bill we are voting on today we voted on before. I supported it then, and I support it now.
But let me state a simple fact: All the statues being removed by this bill are statues of Democrats. Madam Speaker, as I heard the Speaker talk earlier about removing the four portraits of Speakers in the hall, the same answer goes for that, as well. They were all Democrats.
What is interesting is the statues that need to be removed were sent to the Capitol by States that were a majority controlled by Democrats sent to a House that had a majority controlled by Democrats accepting of these statues.
I think the bill should go further. Maybe it is time the Democrats change the name of their party. They may be desperate to pretend their party has progressed from the days of supporting slavery, pushing Jim Crow laws or supporting the KKK.
But let's be honest, at any place at any time if those fundamentals rest somewhere, we cannot let them.
Let's go through some of the words and actions of a few Democrats. Just a few years ago then-Vice President Joe Biden praised Democrat Senator Robert Byrd. He was an ``exalted cyclops'' of the Ku Klux Klan. In his eulogy for Byrd he said: ``For a lot of us, he was a friend . .
. mentor . . . and guide.''
Another leading Democrat who praised Byrd at the time was Speaker Pelosi. She called Byrd a friend, a great person, and a great American patriot.
Madam Speaker, today the Democratic Party has doubled down on what I consider this shameful history by replacing the racism of the past with the racism of the critical race theory.
They continue to look at race as the primary means of judging a person's character. We saw this just last week. Senate Democrats voted to confirm one of President Biden's appointees who said: ``We must do everything in our collective power to realize Dr. Kendi's vision for America.''
Let me be clear about what that vision is. Kendi, the author of ``How to Be an Antiracist'' proposed in his book that the solution to past discrimination is present discrimination. Now that is what the person who is now in charge of the personnel of the entire Federal Government is endorsing. And this divisive vision isn't confirmed or just confined to one person or department.
The Navy included Kendi's book on its official reading list for sailors and the Department of Education has praised the debunked ``The 1619 Project,'' citing it as an example of what should be taught to our children.
Critical race theory is the governing ideology of what we are now finding in the Biden administration. By advocating for it Democrats continue to fuel hatred and division across the country.
I agree with Senator Tim Scott: America is not a racist country.
America must reject critical race theory for the simple reason: State-sponsored racism is wrong and always will be.
It was wrong when it was segregated lunch counters of Jim Crow, and it was wrong when it was segregated classrooms of critical race theory.
Madam Speaker, many times I wonder what would America have looked like had Abraham Lincoln not been assassinated? Malice towards none. What would America have looked like had the agreement to remove the Federal troops from the south because Joseph Rainey was elected to Congress, and Jim Crow laws were passed by Democrat-controlled offices in the south?
Our Nation was built on a unifying vision from the beginning. As Lincoln said, we are conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that we are all equal.
I will vote for this bill today, just as I voted for it before, but, Madam Speaker, if we have not learned anything, we should not divide our Nation based on race.
I applaud the Democrats for standing up, removing Democrat statues from Democrat-controlled majorities sent to a Democrat majority House that accepted them. It is about time. But, Madam Speaker, to continue along in a critical race theory where you would teach an individual that they are right or wrong based upon the color of skin goes against everything that we are voting about today.
Madam Speaker, you know my heart, and I know yours. There are times we might disagree on philosophy or how best to run a government, but we never disagreed by judging somebody by the color of their skin.
And I hope we take this moment and this opportunity as we promised before to strive to be a more perfect Union.
Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), the majority whip. We are so lucky to have as our whip someone who started his public service as a fighter for civil rights. Like our colleague, the late John Lewis, our whip put his life on the line for civil rights and for voting rights.
Mr. CLYBURN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the time.
I listened pretty intently to the minority leader talking about theory, a principle upon which a set of practices are made. That is what a theory is. We are not here today to talk about theory.
Today, we are talking about some actions, some practices that were made. We are talking about moving to make this Nation more perfect. And one of the ways you do that is by recognizing and admitting that we have a very spotted history when it comes to race.
I met my late wife in jail protesting practices that were based upon our skin color. Racial inequities, that is what this is all about.
One of the statues in this building sent up here by my State, South Carolina, is a statue of John C. Calhoun. John C. Calhoun is not here because he defended the southern States during the Civil War. We talk about those generals all over this place.
John C. Calhoun died in 1850, more than a decade before the Civil War started. So why is he here? Why did South Carolina send his statue up here for us to honor? Simply because he was this Nation's foremost proponent of slavery. So much so until Yale University from which he graduated took his name off the college that they celebrated him with. Clemson University, which he was one of the founders of, took his name off of his Honors College. Charleston, South Carolina, where he is buried took his statue down overnight. People went to bed around 11 o'clock at night looking at the statue, and when they got up at 6 o'clock the next morning, it was gone because South Carolina has done everything they can to get beyond those principles advocated by John C. Calhoun.
But his statue is here. And I want to thank the Speaker for moving that statue to some place out the eyesight of any school child coming up here. I always call this Hall ``America's classroom.'' And we ought to be teaching in this Hall that which is wholesome about the country.
This is a great country. Nobody denies that. I don't call this a racist country. I do say that this country has on occasion, too often for my taste, tolerated racism. That is a fact. And nobody can deny that fact.
Last time this bill came before this body, over 70 of my Republican friends voted for it. I would hope we could do a little better today.
Madam Speaker, I close by reminding my friend, most of us who studied history, we know when the Republican Party came into being. We know when the Democratic Party came into being; it happens to be an older party than the Republican Party. So I understand all of that. But we also know that in 1948, when Hubert Humphrey spoke at the 1948 Democratic Convention against segregation, Strom Thurmond, the Democrat, left the party, came back. And in 1964 when Democrats came together and decided that they were going to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Strom Thurmond, the Democrat, left the Democratic Party, became a Republican, and took all of those segregationists with him into the South Carolina Republican Party. The South Carolina Republican Party built itself on the Confederate battle flag.
Those are facts of history. We can't deny those facts, and we won't try to. We try to do whatever we can to do what George Santayana admonished us to do; learn the history and gather lessons from that history or we run the risk of repeating that history. What we should do today is relegate these statues to the dust bin of history.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the very passionate words that we have heard here today. And as I said in the beginning, we on this side of the aisle not only agree, but we have been advocating for these very things for quite some time.
In fact, as far as Georgia's statue, I have advocated in times past for the removal of Alexander Stephens' statue--it has been on several occasions that I have spoken about this--and let me just share with you this one idea, this principle, the criticism that he made of our Founders, because he believed that our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were inherently flawed. This is what Stephens said. ``The prevailing ideas entertained by him,'' meaning Jefferson, ``and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitution''--talking about the Constitution we have today because he was advocating for the Confederate Constitution--``were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically.'' And we agree with that.
What he is saying is the flaw of our Founders was that they believed this idea that all men are created equal, and they put that in our founding documents.
The reason I bring that up today is because of something that the minority leader said, which is that under critical race theory they are teaching that our founding documents were the opposite, and more that they were what Alexander Stephens was saying they were, that they are flawed, that they teach racism. But Alexander Stephens was taking the opposite approach, and he says they weren't teaching racism, that is why they are flawed.
This is why I have advocated a long time for the removal of Stephens' statue. In fact, as I was speaking about this at one time, my family and I received a threat from the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia, because I adamantly believe that we are all created equal and we are all given the same opportunities in this Nation.
Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman).
{time} 1545
Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, in her opening remarks, the gentlewoman quoted Maya Angelou earlier. And since Maya Angelou spent her childhood in my district in Arkansas, I wholeheartedly agree with the words of Maya Angelou that we can do better.
But I am not convinced that H.R. 3005 is actually doing better. Madam Speaker, this bill would remove all statues from the U.S. Capitol of individuals who voluntarily served in the Confederate Army or, it appears, who are now otherwise deemed by Democrats as racist and unfit for any type of honor.
One of the statues named for removal is James Paul Clarke, a Democrat from Arkansas, who served as a U.S. Senator and the 18th Governor of Arkansas. His statue was placed in the Capitol by Democrat majorities in both the Arkansas House and Senate.
The Speaker might be interested to learn that the Republican Arkansas State legislature voted in 2019 to replace James Paul Clarke and its other statue, which depicts Uriah Rose. Speaker Pelosi is already familiar Uriah Rose. You see, last year, on June 10, Speaker Pelosi sent a letter to the Joint Committee on the Library requesting it remove 11 statues which depict Confederate soldiers and officials, which she says involves Uriah Rose.
Uriah Rose was an Arkansas attorney, who was a founder and two-time president of the American Bar Association. Uriah Rose also founded the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, at which Hillary Clinton began her legal career and became the firm's first female partner.
The Speaker will be pleased to know that neither Uriah Rose nor James Paul Clarke were commissioned into the Confederate Army. Uriah Rose never fought for the Confederacy, and James Paul Clarke was 7 years old when the Civil War began.
However, following the established procedures for placing statues in the Capitol, Arkansas has recognized racist beliefs held at least by the Democrat Governor and Senator James Clarke and, in 2019, began the process of replacing our two statues with those who have made significant, meaningful contributions to Arkansas and our Nation: Country music legend Johnny Cash and civil rights activist Daisy Bates.
Madam Speaker, every State can follow that process. Many have and many are. Daisy Bates was a civil rights activist who was an unstoppable force during the desegregation of Arkansas, and I am proud that Arkansas chose her as one of the statues to replace James Paul Clarke and Uriah Rose.
Daisy Bates was instrumental in securing safe entry into Little Rock Central High School for the ``Little Rock Nine'' in September of 1957, one of the first high schools in Arkansas to integrate following the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954.
Arkansas has been working with the Architect of the Capitol and the Joint Committee on the Library to replace these statues for 2\1/2\ years, complying with every step in the process.
H.R. 3005 also names other statues, such as Charles Brantley Aycock, a Democrat from North Carolina who did not serve in the Confederate Army, but has racist ties, who North Carolina has been trying to replace with Reverend Billy Graham since 2015.
This bill naming statues that are in the process of being replaced is nothing more than what I believe is an attempt by Democrats to prematurely thwart the authority of States in order to claim the moral high ground for themselves. If Democrats were serious about cleansing the U.S. Capitol of statues depicting those with racist views, Speaker Pelosi would insist the Joint Committee on the Library make it a top priority to work with Arkansas and North Carolina to expedite the replacement of these statues that are already in process.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Arkansas.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I am glad to hear the gentlewoman is going to work to see the Billy Graham statue is quickly added, and I ask that she does the same for Arkansas statues of Johnny Cash and Daisy Bates.
Madam Speaker, we don't need a do-nothing messaging bill from Democrats. We don't need another nanny-state mandate from House Democrats telling States what they need to do. What we need is a get-
something-done attitude and real leadership, and these statues will be gone out of the Capitol.
Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, just a note of the process. In fact, Arkansas is now selecting an artist to develop the Bates statue that has to be approved before we can proceed. Meanwhile, even though they want to get rid of that statue, it stays here. If we pass this bill, the statue will be gone while Arkansas pursues a replacement.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin), my colleague, a member of the Committee on House Administration, and a scholar and former constitutional law professor.
Mr. RASKIN. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for her great leadership on this.
Madam Speaker, it is one thing to remember the Nation's Confederate traitors. It is another thing to glorify them. It is time to stop glorifying white supremacy in black robes and Confederate traitors who defected from the Union and took up arms against the United States.
Now, I represent Frederick County, Maryland, where Justice Taney lived. The city of Frederick, 5 years ago, took down their statue of the man who wrote the Dred Scott opinion, which found that an African American could never be a citizen within the meaning of Article III of the Constitution, and in which he wrote: ``Blacks have no rights which the White man is bound to respect.''
In the name of original intent, Justice Taney transformed our Constitution into a White man's compact. He disgraced the Supreme Court. It would take the Civil War, the Reconstruction amendments, and the civil rights movement to dismantle the white supremacist constitution.
Now we are going to replace him with a great Marylander, who has stood the test of time, Justice Thurgood Marshall, who was one of the architects of the legal strategy to dismantle Jim Crow and to replace Plessy v. Ferguson.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Maryland.
Mr. RASKIN. Madam Speaker, Justice Marshall argued the White primary line of cases: Smith v. Allwright and Terry v. Adams. He argued Brown v. Board of Education. He became the first African-American Supreme Court Justice.
As for all the other Federal officeholders who took an oath to support our Constitution but then defected to the Confederacy and waged insurrection and rebellion against the United States, they were banned by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment from ever serving in public office again, at the Federal level, at the State level, or at the local level.
Why should they occupy a position of honor and reverence in this building?
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Georgia has 11\1/2\ minutes remaining. The gentlewoman from California has 12\1/2\ minutes remaining.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, prior to the organizing of the current Joint Committee on the Library, Ranking Member Rodney Davis and I sent a letter to the Joint Committee on the Library to demand immediate action on North Carolina's pending request to replace the statue of Charles Brantley Aycock with the statue of Reverend Billy Graham.
So far, the request has been ignored, but I can only assume it was because it would impede the ability to do what we are doing here today. But I am encouraged by the chair's commitment to act on that very quickly.
I would also say that this isn't an isolated case. There are currently eight States with pending requests, including Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Kansas, North Carolina, Nebraska, Utah, and Virginia.
In fact, Georgia has just introduced in this last session a new piece of legislation to remove Stephens' statue with that of the late Representative John Lewis, which is receiving bipartisan support. In fact, the Republican Speaker of the House is the top cosponsor of that legislation.
Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).
Mr. GROTHMAN. Madam Speaker, I will have to admit that when I first got this job and walked through Statuary Hall, I was kind of surprised at some of the people who are honored there. In particular, Alexander Stephens was one that kind of jumped out at me.
And right before the end of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln talked about malice towards none and charity for all. And I think that charity for all was being a little abused when people like Alexander Hamilton Stephens got their statue down there.
Be that as it may, there is another part of this bill that is put before us. We have talked about the Dred Scott decision. I am going to talk a little bit about Roe v. Wade and a history of Roe v. Wade that I think a lot of people don't know about. I get this history in part from an article put out by Planned Parenthood and in part from a book written by Bob Woodward.
Obviously, Roe v. Wade could be described as the most significant court decision in that it legalized abortion, and we have 60 million fewer Americans than we would have if this decision had not happened.
However, a change was made in that decision as they were debating it, upping that 60 million figure a little bit higher because a decision was made at the end to go from allowing abortions at 3 months to allowing abortions all the way until viability--late-term abortion.
The author of that decision, Justice Blackmun, was just going to go 3 months, and he got a letter put out by Thurgood Marshall, who wanted it to be much higher.
I can't tell you exactly how many abortions past 3 months we have had in this country, but it is probably over 5 million. And that was because Thurgood Marshall was in the right or wrong position--however you want to look at it--to go from 3 months to making America one of seven countries in the world where they allow abortions so late. And of those countries includes North Korea, Vietnam, Red China--not countries you want to be associated with.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Wisconsin.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Madam Speaker, if this bill becomes law and we walk through there, we are going to see Thurgood Marshall--or at least I will always look at him as the guy who weighed in and felt after abortion was largely illegal in this country for its first 200 years, the guy who kind of put the foot on the gas and legalized late-term abortion and put the United States in with those other six countries.
Madam Speaker, for that reason, I am going to vote against this bill today. And, hopefully, someday in America, the Roe v. Wade decision and putting the United States in the position in which even 6- or 7-month-
old babies can have their lives taken away, hopefully that will eventually end.
Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green).
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for yielding.
Madam Speaker, the great Thurgood Marshall won 29 of 32 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States of America. He was eminently qualified then and he is now, and this is a proper thing for us to do.
I want to close with this: If Judge Taney and his cohorts had their way, there would be no person of color in this building today.
Madam Speaker, if they had their way, you would not be at that podium.
Madam Speaker, I stand with Mr. Hoyer. I am grateful for what he has done, and I will vote for this legislation. Its time has long since come, and we are doing the right thing. Dr. King reminded us, ``the time is always right to do that which is right.''
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 8 minutes remaining.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, it is refreshing to know that there is so much we actually do agree on in this Chamber, because the things that my good friend from Texas just said, we agree on, and we have agreed on since Abraham Lincoln was the President.
Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis), my good friend, who is also the ranking member of the Committee on House Administration.
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague and my friend on the Committee on House Administration for running this debate for our side.
Madam Speaker, despite its flaws, I intend to vote for the underlying bill. But, nevertheless, I rise to highlight several points the majority has failed to address.
It has been 6 years--6 years--since the people of North Carolina, through their elected State legislature, requested on a bipartisan basis to replace the State statue of Charles Brantley Aycock, a former Democrat Governor of that State, who supported segregation and white supremacy.
The people of North Carolina have requested to replace the statue with a sculpture of the late Reverend Billy Graham, a worthy North Carolinian respected and beloved by millions.
Even the Speaker of the House has had many kind words for Reverend Graham, only the fourth American ever to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol.
{time} 1600
In a press release dated February 21, 2018, the Speaker said in part the following: ``Reverend Graham's leadership and firm partnership with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were vital in the fight for civil rights in the South. His counsel to U.S. Presidents, regardless of party, brought grace and humility into our politics.''
Madam Speaker, I include in the Record the entire press release.
Pelosi Statement on the Passing of the Reverend Billy Graham
(February 21, 2018, Press Release)
San Francisco--Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi issued this statement today on the passing of the Reverend Billy Graham:
``Today, millions around the world grieve the loss of the Reverend Billy Graham. His clarion message of fellowship and faith lifted and inspired countless members of the Christian community.
``Reverend Graham's leadership and firm partnership with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were vital in the fight for civil rights in the South. His counsel to U.S. Presidents, regardless of party, brought grace and humility into our politics. In moments of crisis, from terrorist attacks to horrific natural disasters, Americans roiled by tragedy and turmoil looked to Reverend Graham for solace.
``May it bring comfort to William, Nelson, Virginia, Anne, Ruth and the entire Graham family that so many around the world share in their sorrow at this time.''
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I agree with the Speaker's remarks. Reverend Graham was vital in the fight for civil rights in the South.
So, today, I ask: Why are we still having this conversation 6 years later? Why do the Democrats continue to delay States' efforts, like North Carolina and Arkansas, to replace the statues in question that are currently at the Capitol? Why do Democrats delay action, keeping these statues of known racist Democrats in this building?
Democrats have done nothing on any statue for the past 6 months, leaving statues of segregationists, known racists, and other Confederate Democrats in our Capitol.
As an aside, we know this process shouldn't take this long. Kansas, which has no statues in question in the underlying bill, has been waiting 22 years to put a statue of Amelia Earhart in the Capitol.
Just yesterday, the chair of the Joint Committee on the Library, a Democrat, signed the paperwork in about 30 seconds when pressed on it, despite waiting over 6 months to organize the Joint Committee on the Library this Congress.
It is clear that the Democrats could move these requests along at any time but instead are actively continuing to delay the process.
In an effort to speed up this process, I offered an amendment yesterday at the Rules Committee that very reasonably would have addressed these delays and would have required the Joint Committee on the Library to act within 30 days of receiving any actionable items on statue replacement. Thirty days, come on.
Democrats ruled it out of order. I believe that is because they wanted to vote on this bill. Each of the statues in question represents a known racist who was a Democrat from the past. The majority party is anxious to erase their discriminatory history from the Capitol with this action.
So, let's have the vote. Let's have a vote on this Democrat bill intending to remove Democrat statues.
Madam Speaker, my constituent Abraham Lincoln is buried in my district, the 13th District of Illinois, the first Republican President of our great Nation. I am proud to represent that history. I stood on this floor debating and supporting this bill in the last Congress, and I will support it again.
But please, Madam Speaker, please, please encourage the Democratic majority to help us reform this broken process that has delayed and delayed and kept statues of known Confederates, known racists, who happen to be Democrats in the past, in this Capitol.
Let's work together. Let's get this done. Let's stop playing games.
And let's actually open the Capitol again. It is kind of interesting and ironic that no one can see these statues because the Capitol is closed.
What are we doing to establish a plan to reopen our Capitol for our Nation to actually share in this history, to share in the history of Abraham Lincoln, to share in the history of our country, to share in the special building that we get the chance to walk in and work in while it remains closed?
Madam Speaker, I look forward to working in a bipartisan way to reform this broken process. Madam Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak today, and I intend to vote for this bill.
Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, may I ask how much time remains on both sides.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Schrier). The gentlewoman has 11\1/2\ minutes remaining. The gentleman from Georgia has 3 minutes remaining.
Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Bass).
Ms. BASS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3005 to remove the bust of Chief Justice Roger Taney and Confederate statues from public display in the U.S. Capitol Building.
The people's House can never truly be for the people if it is lined with tributes to those who fought to continue the enslavement of Black people in this country.
My ancestors built this building. Imagine how they would feel knowing that, more than 100 years after slavery was abolished in this country, we still paid homage to the very people who betrayed this country in order to keep my ancestors enslaved.
Imagine how I and other African Americans and people of color feel walking through Statuary Hall, knowing that there are monuments to people who supported, embraced, and fought for the breakup of our country.
We are not trying to erase our history. We must confront our past when we talk about who we should honor in this building.
Should we honor the man who wrote the Supreme Court ruling that African Americans can't be citizens? Or should we honor the man who got the Supreme Court to rule that separate but equal cannot be equal? Should we honor a legal architect of slavery? Or should we honor a legal architect of the civil rights movement?
When I hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle talk about the Democratic Party, I wonder if you are aware of the whole history of the civil rights movement, where Black people and other people of color fought to enter the Democratic Party. And when people objected to our participation, and when people objected to our right to vote, those people left the Democratic Party and joined the Republican Party. We are extremely aware of our history of racism in the Democratic Party.
Part of our history as Americans is that we criticize our country. We don't just honor the nice stories of our history, but we honor and embrace all of our history. And we fight for a more perfect Union. Fighting for a more perfect Union for people of color meant fighting to enter the Democratic Party.
It is my hope that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will go back to that history of the Republican Party that you honor and fight for the right of all Americans to vote.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the majority leader.
Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I am glad to be back.
Madam Speaker, I have been out for 2 weeks, and now that I have a new knee, I am good for another 20 years. That is what they tell me. They guarantee me that.
Madam Speaker, when I brought this bill to the floor just about a year ago, I referred to our Capitol Building as a sacred space for democracy, a symbol around the world of democracy. The intervening months have shown us, in ways we could not have imagined then, just how true that statement was and is.
Sadly, we in this House, our colleagues in the Senate, all who work here, experienced on January 6 a wrenching reminder of how democracy demands our eternal defense and vigilance. We watched our temple of democracy defiled by a violent mob of insurrectionists. For many of us here, that was a watershed moment, seeing such evils pervade the halls of the American Capitol.
However, Madam Speaker, for African Americans, who have been serving here, working here, and visiting here for many decades, that sense of defilement of this sacred space is all too familiar for them.
Our colleague, the former speaker of the California Assembly, Karen Bass, made that clear when she spoke. When they see individuals like John Calhoun, Charles Aycock, and James Paul Clarke celebrated in stone and bronze in these halls, they are reminded that, for so much of our history, the leaders and leading institutions of our government and country did not view them as equal or, at times, even human.
When they enter the solemn Old Supreme Court Chamber and stare into the cold marble eyes of Roger Brooke Taney, they are reminded that, at one time, the highest court in our land declared that Black lives did not matter.
Mr. Speaker, we ought not be surprised when our fellow citizens of color raise signs that say: No, America, Black lives do matter. That is somewhat what this debate is about.
In the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision written by Justice Taney, a distinguished citizen of Maryland revered in his time for his intellect and his accomplishments, Taney, in this terrible decision, quoted the Declaration of Independence, which all of us quote so often: ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'' Today, we would say all men and women are equal, irrespective of color.
But this Dred Scott decision ought to teach us a lesson today. It ought to humble us today. When people around us say, ``Boy, that is the right decision,'' because it happens to be the decision of the moment, not a decision of history.
Beneath those lines, Taney wrote these: ``The general words,'' that is, that all men are created equal, ``The general words above quoted would seem to embrace the whole human family.'' Hear me, colleagues. This is Taney speaking in a decision where he is about to say Black lives do not matter.
He said, however, that it ``would seem to embrace the whole human family,'' not divided by color or gender or nationality or religion, the whole human race. And he went on to say: ``And if they were used in a similar instrument at this day would be so understood.'' I want you to think about that.
I want you to think about it, colleagues, with humility. Frankly, I want those who argue for the originalist point of view to think of that. Taney thought of that. And he thought, in his day, in 1857, the whole human family would be covered by ``all men are created equal.''
But notwithstanding that belief, he did not so rule because he was mired in the past, and the progress of those some 90 years had alluded him because he went on to say: But ``the enslaved African race were not intended to be included and formed no part of the people who framed and adopted this Declaration.'' An originalist.
The Founders were human. They were extraordinary humans, but they were human. Their environment shaped their thoughts, as they do ours.
Taney's words were used by the Confederacy during the Civil War to justify the creation of a regime built to sustain the enslavement of African Americans in perpetuity, with no possibility of recognizing their humanity.
{time} 1615
Even though Taney said that in 1857, that would have been the popular definition of all men are created equal, Blacks and Whites alike.
And those words have been used ever since by bigots and white supremacists to justify segregation, racial violence, and discrimination.
Mr. Speaker, I say to my fellow colleagues that we must not allow the author of those words to hold a place of honor in our Capitol. That is why I introduced this legislation along with Representative Barbara Lee; my dear friend of over a half a century, Jim Clyburn; Representative Karen Bass, former Speaker of the California Assembly; Chairman Bennie Thompson from Mississippi; and Representative G. K. Butterfield a North Carolina former Supreme Court Justice; and the present chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty from Ohio.
Because this building, this sacred space, this temple of democracy has been defiled for too long. We owe it not to forget history. We must learn from history. But we ought not to honor that which defiled the principles for which we think we stand and for which I think we do stand.
It is time, Mr. Speaker, to remove those symbols of slavery, segregation, and sedition from these Halls. How recently we saw, remembered the savage genocide in Tulsa just a few weeks ago, justified in the minds of many, I am sure, that these, after all, were not men who were created equal. They were not children created in the image of God. And therefore, some rationalized the taking of their lives because, after all, their lives did not matter, and therefore, no one was prosecuted, no one was held accountable.
As I said, Roger Brooke Taney was from my State of Maryland, and I acknowledge, as I was growing up as a kid in the late 1950s in high school and then in college in the 1960s, my party was the segregationist party. And my party decided that we did not want to be that party and that there was not a home for segregationists in the Democratic Party. That is a decision we made consciously, knowing full well the cost and that is why Lyndon Johnson said when he signed one of the civil rights bills: We may have just given up the South.
In our State capital of Annapolis, Mr. Speaker, we removed the statue of Chief Justice Taney, the highest ranking Marylander in the Federal Government in history. It had stood there when I was sworn in as a member of the State Senate. And when I listened to Governor Agnew give his State of the Union, it was on the site of the Roger Brooke Taney statue on the east front of our Capitol.
If you turn and walk west through the Capitol of Maryland, you will come out on a park. It is the Thurgood Marshall Park, a testament to the progress and enlightenment that occurred from Taney to Marshall in our State.
The decision to remove Taney's statue was long overdue, but as the gentleman from Texas said Martin Luther King said: It is never too late to do the right thing. And this, today, is the right thing. It reflects our growth as a State as we have confronted the most difficult parts of our history and it will reflect our growth as we recognize it here, as we did overwhelmingly when we passed this last year. Over a third of my Republican colleagues joined the Democratic colleagues in saying Black lives do, in fact, matter.
Those who say we shouldn't teach about slavery or that we should sweep it under the rug or that we should skip over the lines in our Constitution that reference it, do a disservice to our understanding of America's greatness.
Jim Clyburn, our whip, a civil rights hero in his own right, likes to quote de Tocqueville saying that America's greatness is not that it always does the right thing. America's greatness is that it is willing to correct its wrongs. We are great because we approach our past with humility and openness. And we are great because we continue to protect our democracy through more inclusion, more tolerance, more justice, more equality, that all men and women, irrespective of artificial distinctions or real distinctions, are equal in the eyes of our Constitution and of our laws.
That is why Democrats and Republicans came together earlier this month to make Juneteenth a national holiday, overwhelmingly, a handful voting against that, in an articulation of our principles today, not yesterday. That was Roger Brooke Taney's great blindness. That is why I believe we can take this important step together today.
Mr. Speaker, I ask the House once again to join me in passing this legislation, to remove these statues and bust of Chief Justice Taney from the Capitol. Not to forget them. Not to say they weren't part of history, but they are not deserving of our honor. Not because we want to erase history but because we are determined to confront it.
As a Marylander, proud of steps we have taken in Annapolis, I believe that Justice Thurgood Marshall would be a far better ambassador for the greatness of American democracy and for our State of Maryland than Roger Brooke Taney. Where Roger Brooke Taney represents the worst of American justice and racism, Thurgood Marshall represents the best of justice and equality. He deserves to be honored in this Capitol for his trailblazing career and lifelong dedication to civil rights and equal justice for all.
Mr. Speaker, I hope all of my colleagues, not as Republicans and Democrats, but as Americans who believe we are a special, exceptional country because we lift up the individual and we protect the 1 against the 99 if the 1 is right. That is the essence of America. And even though they did not live it out perfectly, they articulated the perfection of all men are created equal. And endowed not by the Constitution, not by the laws of Congress, not by the majority vote of their fellow citizens, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.
That is what this vote is about today, and I urge my colleagues, vote
``yes'' for America, vote ``yes'' for its principles that are so respected properly around the world.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, to the gentlewoman from California, I am prepared to close if she is. I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. LOFGREN. Well, the other speakers we are expecting I think are caught up in a long appropriations markup, so you may proceed. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from the members of the North Carolina delegation that was written to the Joint Committee on the Library encouraging them to move quickly on their request to replace the Aycock statue with that of Billy Graham.
Congress of the United States
Washington, DC, June 29, 2021.Hon. Zoe Lofgren,Chairperson,Joint Committee of Congress on the Library.Hon. Amy Klobuchar,Ranking Member,Joint Committee of Congress on the Library.
Chairperson Lofgren and Ranking Member Klobuchar: We write today to encourage the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library's (JCL) expeditious approval of the North Carolina General Assembly's request to replace the State's current statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection. Since 2015, North Carolina has worked to replace one of its current statues, which depicts Charles Brantley Aycock, an individual associated with white supremacy, with one of the late Reverend William Franklin ``Billy'' Graham, Jr. Despite North Carolina's diligent efforts in coordination with the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) and past Joint Committees on the Library, the statue of Aycock remains.
On October 2, 2015, the North Carolina General Assembly passed Session Law 2015-269; HB 540, ``An Act Requesting the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress to Approve the Replacement of the Statue of Charles Brantley Aycock in National Statuary Hall with the Statue of the Reverend William Franklin ``Billy'' Graham, Jr.'' This legislation passed the North Carolina House with bipartisan support and passed the North Carolina Senate unanimously.
In February 2018, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest sent letters to the AOC in support of the General Assembly's request.
On July 29, 2020, the North Carolina Legislature's Statuary Hall Selection Committee unanimously approved the design of the Rev. Graham statue.
According to the AOC, North Carolina's request continues to await JCL approval to proceed to step five of the ten-step replacement process. Now, over six months into the 117th Congress, JCL's delayed organization continues to hinder North Carolina's wishes to remove a white supremacist's statue from the Capitol.
We implore the JCL to honor the will of the people of North Carolina by moving immediately to complete its work on North Carolina's request and to stand ready to assist as needed in order to ensure the State's wishes are finally realized without further delay.
Sincerely,Patrick McHenry.Virginia Foxx.Richard Hudson.Ted Budd.David Rouzer.Dan Bishop.Gregory F. Murphy, M.D.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the official 10-
step Architect of the Capitol statue removal and replacement process.
This process was established in the 2000 omnibus and further defined in 2014 and requires coordination between the State, the Architect of the Capitol, and the Joint Committee on the Library. All requests for statue replacements begin in State legislatures and is then communicated to the Architect of the Capitol who then manages the communication of the request to the JCL for approval through the process.
Architect of the Capitol
January 2014.
Procedure and Guidelines for Replacement of Statues in the National
Statuary Hall Collection
The creation of the National Statuary Hall Collection was authorized by the United States Congress in 1864 to allow each State to provide two statues of notable citizens for display in the United States Capitol. The Joint Committee on the Library of Congress has oversight of the collection, and, under the committee's direction, the Architect of the Capitol
(AOC) is responsible for the reception, placement, and care of the statues.
In accordance with legislation enacted in 2000, ``Any State may request the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress to approve the replacement of a statue the State has provided for display in Statuary Hall'' under two conditions:
(A) the request has been approved by a resolution adopted by the legislature of the State and the request has been approved by the Governor of the State, and
(B) the statue to be replaced has been displayed in the Capitol of the United States for at least 10 years as of the time the request is made, except that the Joint Committee may waive this requirement for cause at the request of a State.Steps in the Procedure
1. Responsibilities of the State. The State legislature enacts a resolution that identifies the statue to be replaced, names the individual to be newly commemorated and cites his or her qualifications, selects a committee or commission to represent the State in selecting the sculptor, and directs the method of obtaining the necessary funds to carry the resolution into effect. Expenditures for which the State is responsible include the cost of paying the sculptor for designing and carving or casting the statue; designing and fabricating the pedestal; transporting the statue and pedestal to the United States Capitol; removing and transporting the replaced statue; temporarily erecting the new statue on its pedestal in the location approved for the unveiling ceremony; certain expenses related to the unveiling ceremony; and any other expenses that the State commission may find it necessary to incur.
2. Request to Replace a Statue. A duly authorized State official, typically the governor, shall submit to the Architect of the Capitol a written request to provide a new statue, a description of the location in the State where the replaced statue will be displayed after it is transferred, and a copy of the applicable enacted State legislation authorizing the replacement. The Architect of the Capitol will review the request for completeness and will forward it to the Joint Committee on the Library.
3. Joint Committee on the Library Action. The Joint Committee on the Library will approve or deny the request.
4. Agreement Regarding Replacement. If the request is approved by the Joint Committee on the Library, the Architect of the Capitol will formalize an agreement with the State to guide the process. The agreement consists of the State's commitment to follow the guidelines for the design and fabrication of statues (see below) and to take responsibility for any cost related to the design, construction, transportation, and placement of the new statue; the removal and transportation of the statue being replaced; and any unveiling ceremony. The agreement is between the Architect of the Capitol and the State. If the State authorizes a commission, foundation, or other entity to act upon its behalf in subsequent parts of the process, the governor must so notify the Architect of the Capitol in writing.
5. Approval of Maquette. The State or its representative shall submit to the Architect of the Capitol, for review and final approval by the Joint Committee on the Library, photographs of the maquette from all four sides and the proposed dimensions of the completed statue.
6. Approval of Full-Size Clay Model and Pedestal Design, Including Proposed Inscription. The State shall submit to the Architect of the Capitol, for review and final approval by the Joint Committee on the Library, photographs of the model from all four sides, dimensions, engineering drawings of the pedestal, the anticipated weight of the completed statue and pedestal, and the text of any proposed inscriptions. Any structural, safety, and design concerns will need to be addressed before final approval.
7. Approval of Completed Statue, Cast in Bronze or Carved in Marble, and Completed Pedestal. The State shall submit to the Architect of the Capitol, for review and final approval by the Joint Committee on the Library, photographs of the completed statue and pedestal from all four sides, dimensions, the final weight, and the text of any inscriptions.
8. Ceremony and Program. The holding of an unveiling ceremony is optional. Permission to use the Rotunda or Emancipation Hall must be granted by concurrent resolution of the Congress, and legislation by the Congress is required to authorize printing of the proceedings at government expense. The State may contact its delegation in Congress for assistance and for introduction of the required legislation.
Although no law requires the Congress to accept statues by formal resolution, it is recommended that acceptance of the statue by the Congress be included in the legislation introduced for the use the Rotunda or Emancipation Hall for the unveiling ceremony.
The State must arrange the program for the ceremony with the Speaker of the House, who will ensure that congressional participation is bipartisan and bicameral and that the program concludes in a reasonable time. The Architect of the Capitol provides support for any unveiling ceremony.
9. Statue Removal/Installation and Ownership Transfer. The State must arrange for a rigger approved by the Architect of the Capitol to remove the replaced statue and install the replacement statue in the location of its unveiling. This work must be coordinated with the Architect of the Capitol.
The replaced statue must be removed shortly before the new statue is brought into the Capitol. Before the replaced statue is removed, a document transferring ownership of that statue from the federal government to the State will be signed by the designated State official.
10. Permanent Location. The permanent location for the replacement statue will be approved by the Joint Committee on the Library. The National Statuary Hall collection is located in several areas of the Capitol: National Statuary Hall (the Old Hall of the House), the Rotunda, the second-floor House and Senate corridors, the Hall of Columns, the Crypt, and the Capitol Visitor Center.
The Architect of the Capitol will make recommendations for placement of the new statue with the least possible disruption to previously placed statues while maintaining a harmonious arrangement. To assist in developing this recommendation, the agency's structural engineer will determine whether the floor in any proposed location can safely support the weight of the statue. If the replacement statue is suitable in weight and dimensions, it will normally take the place of the replaced statue. If not, the Architect of the Capitol will, upon the approval of the Joint Committee on the Library and with the advice of the Commission of Fine Arts as requested, relocate statues within the Capitol.
If necessary, after the statue has been unveiled, the Architect of the Capitol will be responsible for moving it to the permanent location approved by the Joint Committee on the Library.Guidelines for Replacement Statues
The guidelines below are provided for reference only; they may be modified in particular cases by the Joint Committee on the Library. Images of the one hundred statues now in the collection are available at the Architect of the Capitol website (www.aoc.gov).
Subject. The subject of the statue must be a deceased person who was a citizen of the United States and is illustrious for historic renown or for distinguished civic or military services. Statues may represent only one individual
(ruling adopted by the Joint Committee on the Library at meeting of March 13, 1950). Statues should represent the full length.
Material. The statue must be made of marble or bronze. Replacement statues made of the same material as the replaced statue are preferred. Materials from domestic sources, including, as applicable, sources in the territories and possessions of the United States, are preferred.
Pedestal. To reduce weight, the Architect of the Capitol recommends that the pedestal be made of a hollow steel frame faced in granite or other stone or be made of bronze. It is recommended that the pedestal be designed and constructed with a removable panel (usually in the back) to allow access to attachment bolts. The pedestal design, dimensions, and weight must be submitted to the Architect of the Capitol for review.
Inscriptions. Inscriptions on the pedestal should include the name of the State and of the individual represented. The preferred option is that inscriptions be carved. Alternatively, they can be raised or cast on a bronze plaque. It is traditional and preferred that inscriptions be simple and that they appear only on the front of the pedestal. The proposed inscription should be submitted for review and approval by the Joint Committee on the Library as part of the pedestal design.
Size and Weight. In general, the figure in the replacement statue should be over life size, with a height between seven and eight feet, and the total height, including the pedestal, no greater than eleven feet. Within that size range, the combined weight of a bronze statue and its pedestal should not exceed 5,000 pounds; a marble statue and its pedestal should weigh no more than 10,000 pounds.
Patina and Coating. For bronze statues, the selected patina and coating must be easily maintained and repaired. Formulas for the patinating and coating materials must be provided to the Architect of the Capitol for use during future maintenance.
Other Considerations. The statue and pedestal should not be a potential source of safety hazards. They should not have any protruding or sharp element that could cause harm or be an obstacle for persons in the building.Relevant Legislation
The law creating National Statuary Hall is the act of July 2, 1864 (2 U.S.C. Sec. 2131) (formerly 40 U.S.C. 187), which established that each State had the right to donate
``statues, in marble or bronze, not exceeding two in number for each State, of deceased persons who have been citizens thereof, and illustrious for their historic renown or for distinguished civic or military services . . . .''
This law was modified in 2000 by Sec. 311 of H.R. 5657
(included by reference in H.R. 4577) and established as law by P.L. 106-554, which provides that ``Any state may request the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress to approve the replacement of a statue the State has provided for display in Statuary Hall in the Capitol of the United States . . . .'' 2 U.S.C. Sec. 2132.
Supervision and direction of the collection are assigned to the Architect of the Capitol by the act of August 15, 1876
(19 Stat. 147), 2 U.S.C. Sec. 2131.
With the approval of the congressional Joint Committee on the Library, the Architect of the Capitol is responsible for the reception and location of the statues in this collection, first established by H. Con. Res. 47, agreed to February 24, 1933, and included in P.L. 106-554. 2 U.S.C. Sec. 2132.Excerpt From Public Law 106-554
Sec. 311. (a)(1) Any State may request the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress to approve the replacement of a statue the State has provided for display in Statuary Hall in the Capitol of the United States under section 1814 of the Revised Statutes (40 U.S.C. 187).
(2) A request shall be considered under paragraph (1) only if--
(A) the request has been approved by a resolution adopted by the legislature of the State and the request has been approved by the Governor of the State, and
(B) the statue to be replaced has been displayed in the Capitol of the United States for at least 10 years as of the time the request is made, except that the Joint Committee may waive this requirement for cause at the request of a State.
(b) If the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress approves a request under subsection (a), the Architect of the Capitol shall enter into an agreement with the State to carry out the replacement in accordance with the request and any conditions the Joint Committee may require for its approval. Such agreement shall provide that--
(1) the new statue shall be subject to the same conditions and restrictions as apply to any statue provided by a State under section 1814 of the Revised Statutes (40 U.S.C. 187), and
(2) the State shall pay any costs related to the replacement, including costs in connection with the design, construction, transportation, and placement of the new statue, the removal and transportation of the statue being replaced, and any unveiling ceremony.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to permit a State to have more than two statues on display in the Capitol of the United States.
(d) (1) Subject to the approval of the Joint Committee on the Library, ownership of any statue replaced under this section shall be transferred to the State.
(2) If any statue is removed from the Capitol of the United States as part of a transfer of ownership under paragraph
(1), then it may not be returned to the Capitol for display unless such display is specifically authorized by Federal law.
(e) The Architect of the Capitol, upon the approval of the Joint Committee on the Library and with the advice of the Commission of Fine Arts as requested, is authorized and directed to relocate within the United States Capitol any of the statues received from the States under section 1814 of the Revised Statutes (40 U.S.C. 187) prior to the date of the enactment of this Act, and to provide for the reception, location, and relocation of the statues received hereafter from the States under such section.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, I have a document which is the chart of every State's request that is currently in the process of getting a statue replaced.
Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a timeline of the Joint Committee on the Library's organization for this Congress, including the minutes of the first JCL organizing meeting.
House of Representatives,
Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC, June 29, 2021.Submission for the Record
Timeline of Joint Committee of Congress on the Library Organization for the 117th Congress of the United States
On January 3, 2021, the 117th Congress had its opening day.
On April 16, 2021, the House of Representatives passed H. Res. 321, Electing Members to the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library and the Joint Committee on Printing.
On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed S. Res. 244, A resolution providing for members on the part of the Senate of the Joint Committee on Printing and the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library.
On June 23, the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library gaveled into session around 4:00 p.m.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a letter to the Joint Committee on the Library Chair Lofgren requesting organization consideration of North Carolina's statue and reopening of the U.S. Botanic Garden.
House of Representatives,
Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC, June 17, 2021.Hon. Zoe Lofgren,Chairperson, Committee on House Administration,Washington, DC.
Chairperson Lofgren: More than six months have passed since the start of the 117th Congress, and it is our understanding that the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library (JCL) will officially organize next week. We are looking forward to the JCL's first official action this year as there are pressing issues before the Joint Committee demanding our immediate attention.
We encourage the following items be considered as some of the JCL's first orders of business:
Reopening of the U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG). The Joint Committee's delayed organization has directly affected the public's access to one of the Capitol campus' main attractions, the U.S. Botanic Garden, which to this day remains closed awaiting permission from the JCL to re-welcome visitors. We must take up this matter of business immediately, as the USBG's reopening plans and executive leadership team have informed oversight stakeholders of the campus' readiness for safe and immediate reopening.
Consideration of the request by the State of North Carolina. The State of North Carolina is anxiously awaiting JCL's action on its request for the removal and replacement of one of the state's contributions to the National Statuary Hall Collection. Already years into this process, the request is awaiting JCL approval and the Architect of the Capitol is ready to partner with us to move the process along.
As members of the Joint Committee, we stand ready to get to work, while upholding the long tradition of bipartisanship and bicameralism. As the incoming Chairperson, we encourage you to add the above items to the agenda of the JCL's first organizing meeting so that we can begin to address these pressing issues.
Sincerely,
Rodney Davis,
Ranking Member,
Committee on House Administration.
Barry Loudermilk,
Member,
Committee on House Administration.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, I have a readout from the House Rules Committee meeting on H.R. 3005 recorded June 28, 2021, at which time the Joint Committee on the Library chair, Zoe Lofgren, announced her approval of the Kansas longstanding request to update their contribution to be a statue of Amelia Earhart, and I thank the Congresswoman Lofgren for taking that direction.
Madam Speaker, I have the official collection of correspondence from the State of Kansas to the Architect of the Capitol that informs them where Kansas is in the 10-step replacement process.
Madam Speaker, that process began 22 years ago in 1999, and I thank you for your indulgence with that.
Madam Speaker, I just want to reiterate that there is much that was said here today that we are in agreement with. Something that the esteemed majority leader said I think needs to be reemphasized and is again the reason why I have adamantly fought to replace the statue of Stephens, the Georgia statue of Alexander Stephens, because of his criticism of our Founders.
His criticism was that they truly believed those ideas that were written in our Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal. In fact, he said that that was the flaw of our Nation.
That is why they rebelled against this Nation; that we should go back to those original principles and have people here that honor the idea that God in His infinite ability, created all of us and He created us all with value, equal value regardless of skin color, regardless of age, regardless of any other factor; that we are all created in His divine wisdom and given life, and life can be so abundant if we just hold on to these ideas and principles. And those statues that we have in this Capitol should reflect those values, and I can think of no one that reflects those values more than the Reverend Billy Graham.
Madam Speaker, I include in the Record the General Assembly of North Carolina bill requesting that the statues be replaced.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA SESSION 2015
HOUSE BILL 540--RATIFIED BILL
An act requesting the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress to approve the replacement of the statue of Charles Brantley Aycock in National Statuary Hall with a statue of the Reverend William Franklin ``Billy'' Graham, Jr.
Whereas, in 1864, Congress established National Statuary Hall in the Old Hall of the House of Representatives in the United States Capitol, and authorized each state to contribute to the Hall two statues that represent important historical figures of each state; and
Whereas, North Carolina currently has statues on display in the National Statuary Hall Collection of former governors Zebulon Vance and Charles Brantley Aycock given by the State in 1916 and 1932, respectively; and
Whereas, in 2000, Congress enacted legislation authorizing states the ability to request that the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress approve the replacement of a statue the state had provided for display in Statuary Hall; and
Whereas, William Franklin ``Billy'' Graham, Jr., was born on November 7, 1918, to William Franklin Graham and Morrow Coffey Graham, and was reared on a dairy farm in Charlotte, North Carolina; and
Whereas, Billy Graham attended the Florida Bible Institute from 1937 to 1940, graduating 1940, and was ordained to the ministry in 1939; and
Whereas, Billy Graham served as pastor of The Village Church in Western Springs, Illinois, from 1943 to 1945; as a member of Youth for Christ International, where he ministered to young people and military personnel from 1945 to 1950; and as President of Northwestern Schools, a liberal arts college, Bible school, and theological seminary, from 1947 to 1952; and
Whereas, after World War II, Reverend Graham preached throughout the United States and Europe and attained international prominence as an evangelist through a series of crusades that began in 1949; and
Whereas, since 1950, Reverend Graham has conducted his ministry through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
(BGEA), reaching multitudes of people by means of a weekly radio program, ``Hour of Decision''; a newspaper column, ``My Answer''; televised crusades; articles published in
``Decision'' magazine; and evangelistic films produced and distributed by World Wide Pictures and now reaching millions through the BGEA Web site and the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte; and
Whereas, over the years, Reverend Graham has preached to live audiences of nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories and has preached to an estimated 2.2 billion people through television and technology; and
Whereas, Reverend Graham has been a renowned humanitarian and philanthropist, providing financial assistance to victims of disasters, as well as collecting and distributing clothing to those in need all around the world over the years; and
Whereas, Reverend Graham has counseled 12 Presidents and has participated in nine presidential inaugurations; and
Whereas, Reverend Graham has also counseled world leaders and has participated in many historic occasions, and has been called upon as the ``nation's pastor'' during times of national crisis. He spoke at the National Cathedral service in Washington, D.C., three days after the 9/11 attack in 2001, as the nation and world watched and listened. Five presidents, including George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Gerald Ford, and their wives were in the audience; and
Whereas, in 2012, Reverend Graham was listed on the ``The Ten Most Admired Men in the World List'' for the 56th time. He was first selected in 1955. According to the latest list, Reverend Graham was tied as Number 3 with Mitt Romney, George W, Bush, and Pope Benedict XVI behind President Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela; and
Whereas, admired and beloved by both Christians and non-Christians, Reverend Graham continues to inspire the world with his good works; and
Whereas, there have been many great North Carolinians, but few have impacted the world more than Billy Graham; and .
Whereas, it is appropriate to honor Reverend Graham's life and works by placing his likeness in the National Statuary Hall Collection for display in the United States Capitol; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. The General Assembly requests that the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress approve the replacement of the statue of Charles Brantley Aycock in the National Statuary Hall Collection currently on display in the United States Capitol with a statue of the Reverend William Franklin
``Billy'' Graham, Jr.
Section 2. The General Assembly requests that the Honorable Pat McCrory, Govern of the State of North Carolina, extend to the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress his approval of the General Assembly's request to replace the statue of Charles Brantley Aycock in the National Statuary Hall Collection currently on display in the United States Capitol with a statue of the Reverend Franklin ``Billy'' Graham, Jr.
Section 3.(a) There is created the Statuary Hall Selection Committee (the ``Committee'').
Section 3.(b) Membership--The Committee shall be composed of seven members. as follows:
(1) Four members appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, one of whom shall be a representative of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, or the Association's designee.
(2) Three members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Section 3.(c) Terms; Chairs; Vacancies; Quorum.--Members shall serve terms of four years, The Committee shall have two cochairs, one designated by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and one designated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, from among their appointees. The Committee shall meet upon the call of the cochairs. Vacancies shall be filled by the appointing authority. A quorum of the Committee shall be a majority of the members.
Section 3.(d) Duties.--The Committee shal1 do the following:
(1) Select a sculptor to create a statue of the Reverend Franklin ``Billy'' Graham, Jr., to be placed in the National Statuary Hall Collection and review and approve the plans for the statue.
(2) Identify a method of obtaining the necessary funds needed to pay for all of the following:
a. The sculptor for designing and carving or casting the statue.
b. The design and fabrication of the pedestal.
c. The transportation of the statue and pedestal to the United States Capitol.
d. The removal and transportation of the replaced statue.
e. The temporary placement of the new statue in the Rotunda of the Capitol for the unveiling ceremony.
f. The unveiling ceremony.
g. Any other expenses that the Committee determines are necessary to incur.
Section 3.(e) Compensation; Administration.--Members of the Committee shall receive subsistence and travel allowances at the rates set forth in G.S. 120-3.1, 138-5, or 138-6, as appropriate, The Committee may contract for consultants or hire employees in accordance with G.S. 120-32.02, The Legislative Services Commission, through the Legislative Services Officer, shall assign professional staff to assist the Committee in its work. Upon the direction of the Legislative Services Commission, the Directors of Legislative Assistants of the Senate and of the House of Representatives shall assign clerical staff to the Committee. The expenses for clerical employees shall be borne by the Committee.
Section 3.(f) Reports; Termination.--The Committee shall make an interim report to the 2016 Regular Session of the 2015 General Assembly and an annual report thereafter until the Committee has completed the duties set out in subsection
(d) of this section, at which time the Committee shall terminate.
Section 4. The Secretary of State shall transmit a certified copy of this act to the members of the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress and North Carolina's congressional delegation.
Section 5. This act is effective when it becomes law. In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 21st day of September, 2015.
Approved 10:23 a.m. this 2nd day of October, 2015.
Tom Apodaca,
Presiding Officer.
Paul Stam,
Presiding Officer of the House of Representatives.
Pat McCrory,
Governor.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Just a couple of clarifications because I think it may be confusing to the general public hearing about what is really a rather arcane process for States to add and remove statues.
The Joint Committee on the Library ultimately approves it, but the process is driven by the States, the Architect of the Capitol does all of the heavy lifting, looking at the statues, making sure that the replacement statue meets the engineering requirements and the like. I would just like to note that until last Wednesday, Senator Roy Blunt was chair of the Joint Committee on the Library, and I have been chair of the Joint Committee on the Library now for 6 days.
{time} 1630
In that time, I actually have approved the reopening of the Botanical Gardens. I have approved the replacement of the Kansas statue that I received the letter on Friday. And I have just received the information on North Carolina, and I plan to work on that very hard and, hopefully, very promptly get a decision.
So I don't think that speaks to undue delay in the 6 days that I have been chair of the Joint Committee on the Library.
I do think it is important that we take the step to remove these Confederates and segregationists and pro-slavery statues from our Statuary Hall. In some cases, States have either started the steps to remove them. But while that process is ongoing, these individuals are on a pedestal. And we cannot forget our history, but we don't have to put segregationists and pro-slavery historical figures on a pedestal. We don't honor them, although we do remember them.
So let's adopt this measure to deal with those statues.
But there is another thing. There are situations such as the statue of Justice Taney that were not sent here by any State, and only we can remove them expeditiously. We have said, and we have heard from people more eloquent than I about why Justice Taney should not be honored.
In 1865, a few years before the Taney bust was ultimately commissioned, the Senate debated it. They debated whether to commission the bust of Justice Taney for the Supreme Court room. And during that debate, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts said this: ``I object to that; that now an emancipated country should make a bust to the author of the Dred Scott decision. Judgment is beginning now; and an emancipated country will fasten upon him the stigma which he deserves.''
Now, it may have taken longer than Senator Sumner envisioned, in fact, 156 years to attach the stigma that belongs to Justice Taney, but we will attach that stigma today if we pass this bill.
In closing, I just want to say that all of us are here for a few years. Some longer, some shorter, but we are just here for a little slice of history. And I feel fortunate that my little slice of history allowed me to be here the same time as the late John Lewis. I can almost imagine him standing here on the floor. How fortunate I am to have served with him. And how fortunate I am to serve with our majority whip, Mr. Clyburn, who put his body on the line to fight against segregation and to fight for voting rights. They are leaders of our country. I am proud to serve with them. Let's show how much we honor them by voting for this bill.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I thank Chair Lofgren for her leadership. I'd also like to thank our Speaker, our Majority Leader, our Whip, Mr. Clyburn, Chairwoman Beatty, Chairman Bennie Thompson, and Congressman Butterfield for moving this legislation forward with the urgency that it requires.
I rise in strong support of H.R. 3005, which will remove shameful monuments to slavery, segregation, and white supremacy from the U.S Capitol. In 2017, in the wake of the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, I introduced the Confederate Monument Removal Act to remove all statues of people who voluntarily served the Confederacy from the Capitol building, so thank you for including this in this current bill. Venerating those who took up arms against the United States to preserve slavery is an affront to the human dignity of all Americans.
These painful symbols of bigotry and racism have no place in our society and certainly should not be enshrined in the U.S. Capitol. Following our historic vote on Juneteenth, it is past time for Congress to stop glorifying the men who committed treason against the United States to keep African Americans in chains.
The movement to honor Confederate soldiers was a deliberate act to rewrite history and diminish the role of slavery in the outbreak of hostilities between the North and the South. The Confederacy sought to uphold the institution of slavery and maintain a racial hierarchy that brutalized and oppressed Black people. This ideology of white supremacy led to the rise of Confederate memorials in the 20th century. Most Confederate statutes were erected during periods of extreme civil rights tension, not in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. Placed in public spaces, they were testaments to the enduring notion of white supremacy and used to push back against the movement for equality for African Americans. They are symbols of white supremacy and hatred, not Southern heritage. They don't belong here in the U.S. Capitol.
We are in a critical moment to act. The removal of Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol is an important step in confronting our nation's painful legacy of slavery, racism, and oppression. As a descendant of enslaved Africans, I support this bill and I ask for an
`aye' vote.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Schrier). All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 504, the previous question is ordered on the bill.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was read the third time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question are postponed.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 113
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
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