Replacing Bust of Roger Brooke Taney with Bust of Thurgood Marshall

Floor Speech

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Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7573, as amended.

H.R. 7573 directs the Joint Committee on the Library to remove the bust of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the author of the Dred Scott decision in the Old Supreme Court Chamber with a bust of Justice Thurgood Marshall, and requires the Joint Committee on the Library to remove statues of Charles B. Aycock, James P. Clarke, and John C. Calhoun, as well as a bust of John C. Breckinridge. H.R. 7573 would also amend section 1814 of the Revised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 2131) to change the criteria for those eligible for inclusion to prohibit those who ``served as an officer or voluntarily with the Confederate States of America or of the military forces or government of a State while the State was in rebellion against the United States.'' The Architect of the Capitol would be charged with identifying those statues which do not meet the revised criteria and the Joint Committee on the Library would remove the statues and turn them over to the Smithsonian Institution or their respective states, if desired.

As Chairperson of the House Fine Arts Board and the Vice Chairperson of the Joint Committee on the Library I am more than pleased to remove these symbols of cruelty and bigotry from the halls of the Capitol. This has been a long time coming, and it is long past time to act.

The United States Capitol is one of the most visible, and most visited, symbols of liberty, freedom and democracy in the entire world. Who we choose to honor in this space is uniquely indicative of our values and principles.

Contrary to those who argue in opposition to this long overdue action, this action does not seek to erase history nor ask that we forget that history. We must never forget the shameful scar of slavery, segregation and racism. Instead this is about who we honor. When we think about the holocaust the words ``never forget'' admonish us to always remember the millions murdered by the Nazis. But we do not accomplish that by erecting a statue of Adolf Hitler to put in a place of honor.

Those who violently rebelled against our government upon the belief, as Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens infamously said, ``that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition,'' and those who enabled and protected the practice of holding human beings as property deserve no place of honor in the halls of our nation's Capitol. Slavery is the ``original sin'' of our country, and its disastrous effects are felt to this day.

It is long past time to remove these symbols of bigotry and cruelty from the halls of Congress, and it is long past time to repair the lasting damage their hatred and racism has visited on the fabric of this country. The removal of these symbols from the People's House is a necessary step in this long-overdue work, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 7573 and in working to right the wrongs of the past to better perfect the promises of our country.

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