Introduction of A Bill to Require the Library of Congress to Install the District of Columbia Seal
Floor Speech
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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce of a bill that would require the Library of Congress (LOC) to install the District of Columbia seal in the Main Reading Room of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the LOC. Specifically, the bill would require the LOC to install a stained glass panel depicting the D.C. seal among the panels depicting the seals of all the states and territories that existed when the Thomas Jefferson Building was constructed. The seals of Hawaii and Alaska are the only state seals not included in the display because they were not states or territories when the building was constructed. The fact that these two states were not part of the Union at the time argues for the inclusion of D.C., which, after all, was the Nation's capital at the time. This omission was brought to my attention by a D.C. resident, Luis Landau, a former docent at the LOC.
D.C. residents have always had all the obligations of American citizenship, including paying federal taxes and serving in all the Nation's wars, including the War of 1812, during which the Capitol building, which then housed the LOC, was burned, prompting construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building. It is, therefore, without question that D.C. and its residents should receive equal treatment among the stained glass panels that portray the history of the United States. D.C. residents deserve to have their history and American citizenship recognized.
There is existing evidence that the D.C. seal should have been depicted. The Members of Congress room in the Thomas Jefferson Building, which is not open to the public, depicts the D.C. seal with the depiction of state seals on its ceiling. This precedent reinforces D.C.'s request to be represented among the stained glass panels in the Main Reading Room, which is open to the public.
Congress already includes D.C., or has corrected D.C.'s omission, when honoring the states. For example, each state is entitled to two statues in the Capitol, and D.C. has two statues in the Capitol. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 requires the armed services to display the D.C. flag whenever the flags of the states are displayed. Legislation gave D.C. a coin after D.C. was omitted from legislation creating coins for the states. It is long overdue to display the D.C. seal with the seals of the states in the Main Reading Room.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
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