Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

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Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. I want to thank the gentleman from my home State of Alabama for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my colleague's amendment to prohibit funding in the underlying bill from being used to reinstall the Red Mountain sculpture on the plaza of the Hugo Black Federal courthouse in Birmingham, Alabama.

Despite the security concerns shared by both the United States marshal and the chief justice, Karen Bowdre, the GSA has planned to reinstall the sculpture. Both Chief Justice Bowdre and Marshal Keely believe that the sculpture is nonessential and will pose a serious security risk if reinstalled.

Chief Justice Bowdre noted, in correspondence to GSA, that the location of the statue will be roughly 10 to 12 feet from the only public entrance door, which is completely made of glass and, further, that the monument would create a fatal funnel where someone could hide behind the statue and possibly not be seen and cause a security risk.

Federal law clearly states that the United States marshals have the final authority regarding the security requirements for the judicial branch of the Federal Government. The Administrative Office of the United States Court has also agreed with the chief justice and the U.S. marshal that the final authority over these matters should lie with the U.S. marshal.

If the marshal and the chief justice believe that putting the sculpture back could threaten the safety of our court, then GSA should follow the law and not put the monument back up. Unfortunately, GSA is ignoring the concerns of the court and has plans to reinstall the statue.

Now, while I am a steadfast supporter of the arts, I also believe that the safety of our courts and the citizens must come first. This amendment simply reinforces that GSA must follow the law by prohibiting the reinstallation of the sculpture at the Birmingham, Alabama, Federal courthouse.

I want to thank my friend, Congressman Spencer Bachus from Alabama, for introducing this bipartisan amendment and urge my colleagues to join me in support of it.

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