Introduction Of Legislation To Give D.C. Citizens A Place In Statuary Hall

Floor Speech

Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to introduce a bill today to permit two statues honoring citizens of the District of Columbia in Statuary Hall in the Capitol, just as statues honoring citizens of States are placed in the historic hall. This legislation would allow the city to offer two statues to the Congress on behalf of D.C. residents. This bill is important to ensure equal treatment for the residents of the District of Columbia with the residents of the 50 States, who already have statues representing them in Statuary Hall.

The D.C. statues would likely be of Frederick Douglass and Pierre L'Enfant, known for their contributions to the city and to the Nation, who were selected by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities through a public process. The D.C. statues could help cure the diversity embarrassment of statues in the Capitol. When the Capitol Visitors Center (CVC) opened in December, many were surprised and embarrassed that even in the part of the CVC Congress named Emancipation Hall, to honor the slaves and free blacks who helped build the Capitol, there were no statues of African Americans. It also is an embarrassment, and an indefensible one at that, that the 600,000 American citizens who live in the nation's capital have no statues of their own, while all 50 States have statues.

On August 10, 2006, the D.C. Commission on Arts and Humanities began the process of creating the two statues to be placed in Statuary Hall, when the Commission chose Frederick Douglass and Pierre L'Enfant as the two prominent residents whose statues would represent the District of Columbia. The Commission also hired two Washington area sculptors, Steven Weitzman and Gordon Kay, to work on the sculptures of Frederick Douglass and Pierre L'Enfant. Both statues were placed in the lobby of One Judiciary Square, a District government building.

Douglass (1818-1895) was born a slave in Maryland and became a District resident in the 1870s. He held diplomatic and District appointments and is considered to be the Father of the Civil Rights Movement. Douglass also displayed his talents as an orator and journalist throughout his life here. His home in southeast Washington is a national monument that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.

L'Enfant (1754-1825), an architect, engineer and soldier, left France to serve in the American Revolution. George Washington chose L'Enfant to design the new federal city of Washington, D.C. He became a U.S. citizen and spent the remainder of his life in D.C., implementing the plan that made the Nation's capital the beautiful city it is today.

The District of Columbia was born with the Nation itself over 200 years ago. Throughout these two centuries, the city has created its very own rich and uniquely American history. In the Congress, we undermine the Nation's efforts to spread full democracy around the world. While D.C. residents have not yet obtained the same political equality and voting rights as the citizens of the States, they have all the responsibilities of the citizens of the States, including paying all Federal taxes and serving in all the Nation's wars. Today, when our residents are serving in Iraq, the least we should do is to give this city its rightful and equal place in the Capitol.

The statues would offer District residents the opportunity to enjoy the same pride that all other citizens experience when they come to their Capitol--the opportunity to view memorials that commemorate the efforts of residents who have made significant contributions to their jurisdiction and to American history.

The statue bill I introduce today is part of our ``Free and Equal D.C.'' series, which includes the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, bills for budget autonomy and legislative autonomy, an elected district attorney position, and other bills designed to ensure that District residents, who pay Federal taxes and fight in wars like other Americans, are granted the same privileges as other Americans.

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