Procurement and Placement of Statue of Benjamin Franklin in the United States Capitol

Floor Speech

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Ms. HOULAHAN. Madam Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Morelle for yielding.

Today, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to rise and offer this bipartisan legislation, H.R. 250, the Benjamin Franklin statue placement act. It is so very important to highlight moments where we do come together here in the body, and this bipartisan, bicameral legislation is a bright moment of that kind of unity.

I am really grateful for the support and partnership of my colleagues in this effort, Representative Fitzpatrick and Senators Coons and Boozman, on the other side of the Capitol.

The Benjamin Franklin statue placement act does seek to honor Benjamin Franklin, as mentioned, a renowned author, inventor, statesman, and dare I offer, the most important Founding Father of our great Nation.

Mr. Franklin's accomplishments and inventions are numerous and infamous. Electricity, bifocals, and the lightning rod are just a couple of examples that every day still centuries later are in our lives. He is known, as was mentioned earlier, for very pithy, very profound, and witty statements, such as a stitch in time saves nine or a penny saved is a penny earned. Most memorable, perhaps, is: ``It is a republic, if you can keep it.''

Arguably, Mr. Franklin's most important accolade is that he is the only person to have signed formally all three foundational documents separating our new Nation from the British monarchy.

The Treaty of Paris, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights, together known as the Charters of Freedom, boast the signatures of some of our Nation's most revered figures. Mr. Franklin's signature is the only one that appears on all three documents, however. That is not only something worthy of note, but something, of course, to celebrate.

This is why I was shocked when I learned on my very first official tour of the Capitol Building--which was given to me by my own team member, Emma Consoli, who is the one we really should thank for this legislation--that there are no statues on the Capitol tour of Mr. Franklin. Indeed, Mr. Franklin's lone statue sits at the base of a stairwell, a dark stairwell, just off the Senate floor, out of sight of the hundreds of thousands of people who visit the Capitol.

As we approach this Nation's 250th anniversary, it really is of utmost importance to have Mr. Franklin rightly on display and immortalized for his contributions to our foundation. The Benjamin Franklin statue placement act will do just that.

While Representative Fitzpatrick and I both are both immensely proud of Pennsylvania's own Ben Franklin, we know this is not just for Pennsylvania but for our entire country. I am very grateful to the 77 Members who shared this sentiment last Congress and to our 22 evenly bipartisan original cosponsors and to the 33 Members who have already sponsored it today.

I am also very grateful for the leadership of Chairman Steil and Ranking Member Morelle who supported this bill and believed in it as it passed through the House Administration Committee unanimously in September.

This placement act, as written, directs the Joint Committee on the Library to procure and to place a statue of Mr. Franklin along the Capitol tour route, as mentioned, before 2026 ends in celebration of our 250th anniversary.

The installation of this statue in the Capitol Building will not only be an apt celebration for such an important figure in our history, but it is something that I will urge my colleagues to make sure that we vote in favor of today, so we can start that clock ticking. It is important that we take up this legislation now so that this awesome statue that has already been built and already been donated can be cast to perfection and placed ahead of 2026.

I am grateful for the support of this effort. I thank the sculptor, Zenos Frudakis, for his beautiful work already. I appreciate so much the hard work that has gone into this by all of the people who stand around me for being able to get this to the floor for consideration.

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