II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5229 

To direct the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library to remove the 

bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of 

the Capitol and to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall for installation 

in the Capitol or on the Capitol Grounds, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2022 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. 

BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice, considered, 

read the third time, and passed 

A BILL 

To direct the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library 

to remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old 

Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol and to obtain 

a bust of Thurgood Marshall for installation in the Capitol or on the Capitol Grounds, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. REPLACEMENT OF BUST OF ROGER BROOKE 

4 TANEY WITH BUST OF THURGOOD MAR5 SHALL. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) While sitting in the Capitol, the Supreme 

2 Court issued the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford 

3 decision on March 6, 1857. Written by Chief Justice 

4 Roger Brooke Taney, whose bust sits inside the en5 trance to the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the 

6 Capitol, this opinion declared that African Ameri7 cans were not citizens of the United States and 

8 could not sue in Federal courts. This decision fur9 ther declared that Congress did not have the author10 ity to prohibit slavery in the territories. 

11 (2) Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s author12 ship of Dred Scott v. Sandford, the effects of which 

13 would only be overturned years later by the ratifica14 tion of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the 

15 Constitution of the United States, renders a bust of 

16 his likeness unsuitable for the honor of display to 

17 the many visitors to the Capitol. 

18 (3) As Frederick Douglass said of this decision 

19 in May 1857, ‘‘This infamous decision of the Slave20 holding wing of the Supreme Court maintains that 

21 slaves are within the contemplation of the Constitu22 tion of the United States, property; that slaves are 

23 property in the same sense that horses, sheep, and 

24 swine are property; that the old doctrine that slavery 

25 is a creature of local law is false; that the right of 


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1 the slaveholder to his slave does not depend upon 

2 the local law, but is secured wherever the Constitu3 tion of the United States extends; that Congress has 

4 no right to prohibit slavery anywhere; that slavery 

5 may go in safety anywhere under the star-spangled 

6 banner; that colored persons of African descent have 

7 no rights that White men are bound to respect; that 

8 colored men of African descent are not and cannot 

9 be citizens of the United States.’’. 

10 (4) While the removal of Chief Justice Roger 

11 Brooke Taney’s bust from the Capitol does not re12 lieve the Congress of the historical wrongs it com13 mitted to protect the institution of slavery, it ex14 presses Congress’s recognition of one of the most no15 torious wrongs to have ever taken place in one of its 

16 rooms, that of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s 

17 Dred Scott v. Sandford decision. 

18 (b) REMOVAL OF BUST OF ROGER BROOKE

19 TANEY.—Not later than 45 days after the date of enact20 ment of this Act, the Joint Committee of Congress on the 

21 Library (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Joint Committee’’) 

22 shall remove from public display the bust of Roger Brooke 

23 Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol 

24 and the plinth upon which the bust is placed. The bust 


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1 and plinth shall remain in the custody of the Senate Cura2 tor. 

3 (c) BUST OF THURGOOD MARSHALL.— 

4 (1) OBTAINING BUST.—Not later than 2 years 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Joint 

6 Committee shall enter into an agreement to obtain 

7 a bust of Thurgood Marshall, under such terms and 

8 conditions as the Joint Committee considers appro9 priate and consistent with applicable law. 

10 (2) PLACEMENT.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Architect of the 

12 Capitol, under the direction of the Joint Com13 mittee, shall permanently install the bust ob14 tained under paragraph (1) in a prominent lo15 cation in the Capitol or on the United States 

16 Capitol Grounds, as described in section 5102 

17 of title 40, United States Code. 

18 (B) PRIORITY FOR LOCATION.—In deter19 mining the location for the permanent installa20 tion of the bust obtained under paragraph (1), 

21 the Joint Committee shall give priority to iden22 tifying an appropriate location near the Old Su23 preme Court Chamber of the Capitol. 

Æ 


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