[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2366 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2366
To direct the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library to replace the
bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the
Capitol with a bust of Thurgood Marshall to be obtained by the Joint
Committee of Congress on the Library and to remove certain statues from
areas of the Capitol which are accessible to the public, to remove all
statues of individuals who voluntarily served the Confederate States of
America from display in the Capitol, and for other purposes.
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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 15, 2021
Mr. Cardin (for himself, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Booker, and
Ms. Warren) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration
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A BILL
To direct the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library to replace the
bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the
Capitol with a bust of Thurgood Marshall to be obtained by the Joint
Committee of Congress on the Library and to remove certain statues from
areas of the Capitol which are accessible to the public, to remove all
statues of individuals who voluntarily served the Confederate States of
America from display in the Capitol, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. REPLACEMENT OF BUST OF ROGER BROOKE TANEY WITH BUST OF
THURGOOD MARSHALL.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) While sitting in the Capitol, the Supreme Court issued
the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision on March 6, 1857.
Written by Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, whose bust sits
inside the entrance to the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the
Capitol, this opinion declared that African Americans were not
citizens of the United States and could not sue in Federal
courts. This decision further declared that Congress did not
have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories.
(2) Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney's authorship of Dred
Scott v. Sandford, the effects of which would only be
overturned years later by the ratification of the 13th, 14th,
and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States,
renders a bust of his likeness unsuitable for the honor of
display to the many visitors to the Capitol.
(3) As Frederick Douglass said of this decision in May
1857, ``This infamous decision of the Slaveholding wing of the
Supreme Court maintains that slaves are within the
contemplation of the Constitution of the United States,
property; that slaves are property in the same sense that
horses, sheep, and swine are property; that the old doctrine
that slavery is a creature of local law is false; that the
right of the slaveholder to his slave does not depend upon the
local law, but is secured wherever the Constitution of the
United States extends; that Congress has no right to prohibit
slavery anywhere; that slavery may go in safety anywhere under
the star-spangled banner; that colored persons of African
descent have no rights that white men are bound to respect;
that colored men of African descent are not and cannot be
citizens of the United States.''.
(4) While the removal of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney's
bust from the Capitol does not relieve the Congress of the
historical wrongs it committed to protect the institution of
slavery, it expresses Congress's recognition of one of the most
notorious wrongs to have ever taken place in one of its rooms,
that of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney's Dred Scott v.
Sandford decision.
(b) Removal of Bust of Roger Brooke Taney.--Not later than 45 days
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee of
Congress on the Library shall remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney
that is in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol.
(c) Replacement With Bust of Thurgood Marshall.--
(1) Obtaining bust.--Not later than 2 years after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee of Congress on
the Library shall enter into an agreement to obtain a bust of
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Thurgood Marshall, under such terms and conditions as the Joint
Committee considers appropriate consistent with applicable law.
(2) Placement.--The Joint Committee of Congress on the
Library shall place the bust obtained under paragraph (1) in
the location in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol
where the bust of Roger Brooke Taney was located prior to
removal under subsection (b).
SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF CERTAIN STATUES AND BUST.
(a) Removal.--Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library shall remove
the statue of Charles Brantley Aycock, the statue of John Caldwell
Calhoun, the statue of James Paul Clarke, and the bust of John Cabell
Breckinridge from any area of the Capitol which is accessible to the
public.
(b) Storage of Statues.--The Architect of the Capitol shall keep
any statue and bust removed under subsection (a) in storage until the
Architect and the State which provided the statue or bust arrange for
the return of the statue or bust to the State.
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS AND REMOVAL PROCEDURES FOR STATUES IN NATIONAL
STATUARY HALL.
(a) Requirements.--Section 1814 of the Revised Statutes (2 U.S.C.
2131) is amended by inserting ``(other than persons who served as an
officer or voluntarily served in any other position in the Confederate
States of America or in the military forces or government of a State
while the State was in rebellion against the United States)'' after
``military services''.
(b) Statue Removal Procedures.--
(1) In general.--
(A) Identification by architect of the capitol.--
The Architect of the Capitol shall identify all statues
on display in the Capitol that do not meet the
requirements of section 1814 of the Revised Statutes (2
U.S.C. 2131), as amended by subsection (a).
(B) Removal by joint committee of congress on the
library.--The Joint Committee of Congress on the
Library shall arrange for the removal of each statue
identified by the Architect of the Capitol under
subparagraph (A) from the Capitol by not later than 120
days after the date of enactment of this Act.
(2) Removal and return of statues.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (C), the
Architect of the Capitol shall arrange to transfer and
deliver any statue that is removed under this
subsection to the Smithsonian Institution.
(B) Storage or display of statues.--The Board of
Regents of the Smithsonian Institution shall follow the
policies and procedures of the Smithsonian Institution,
as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of
this Act, regarding the storage and display of any
statue transferred under subparagraph (A).
(C) State requests.--A statue provided for display
by a State that is removed under this subsection shall
be returned to the State, and the ownership of the
statue transferred to the State, if the State so
requests and agrees to pay any costs related to the
transportation of the statue to the State.
(3) Replacement of statues.--A State that has a statue
removed under this subsection may replace such statue in
accordance with the requirements and procedures of section 1814
of the Revised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 2131) and section 311 of the
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2001 (2 U.S.C. 2132).
(4) Authorization and appropriations.--
(A) In general.--There are appropriated for the
fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, out of any money
in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $5,000,000
to carry out this section, including the costs related
to the removal, transfer, security, storage, and
display of the statues described in paragraph (1)(A),
of which--
(i) $2,000,000 shall be made available to
the Architect of the Capitol; and
(ii) $3,000,000 shall be made available to
the Smithsonian Institution.
(B) Availability.--Amounts appropriated under
subparagraph (A) shall remain available until expended.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
In addition to the amounts appropriated under section 3(b)(4),
there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary
to carry out this Act, and any amounts so appropriated shall remain
available until expended.
SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional
Record by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, provided that
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
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