Replacing Bust of Roger Brooke Taney with Bust of Thurgood Marshall
Floor Speech
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Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Butterfield for his really exemplary leadership here.
Mr. Speaker, it is a proud day for Maryland as we move to replace the bust of Roger Brooke Taney with the bust of Thurgood Marshall.
One Marylander wrote the infamous Dred Scott decision, hundreds of pages of argumentation about how the Constitution is and must forever be a White man's compact and that African Americans have no rights that White people have to respect.
The other, Thurgood Marshall, whose bust will replace that of Justice Taney, argued Brown v. Board of Education, argued Shelley v. Kraemer, argued Smith v. Albright, became the first African-American Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. He made equal protection come alive in our country. So it is a proud day for Maryland.
I was delighted to hear the gentleman from Illinois' remarks, but I was amazed to hear another colleague in the minority defending the bust of John C. Breckinridge on the grounds that we don't honor him for his service as secretary of war in the Confederacy but we, rather, honor him for what he did before that in his prior service as United States Senator and Vice President of the United States.
Well, that is just precious. Think about that for a second.
Breckinridge was serving as a U.S. Senator from Kentucky when he defected to the Confederacy, signed up to become their secretary of war, and betrayed the Union. And they still have his bust outside of the United States Senate saying ``Vice President'' on it, despite the fact that, on December 4, 1861, he was convicted of treason by the Senate and stripped of all of his titles--including Senator, President of the Senate, and Vice President.
So we may as well put up a statue of Benedict Arnold to honor him for his service to the Continental Army before he defected over to the British side and led British groups against America.
So let's go all the way here. If there are statues of traitors and racist White supremacist supporters of the Confederacy up in the Capitol, then we need to get rid of them. This is our opportunity to remake the social contract as represented by the symbolism in this great House.
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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