I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7573 

To direct the Architect of the Capitol to replace the bust of Roger Brooke 

Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the United States Capitol 

with a bust of Thurgood Marshall to be obtained by the Joint Committee 

on the Library and to remove certain statues from areas of the United 

States 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 United States Capitol, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 13, 2020 

Mr. HOYER (for himself, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. CLYBURN, Ms. BASS, Mr. 

THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Mr. BUTTERFIELD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To direct the Architect of the Capitol to replace the bust 

of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the United States Capitol with a bust of Thurgood 

Marshall to be obtained by the Joint Committee on the 

Library and to remove certain statues from areas of 

the United States 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 United States Capitol, and for other purposes. 


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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: 

7 (1) While sitting in the United States Capitol, 

8 the Supreme Court issued the infamous Dred Scott 

9 v. Sandford decision on March 6, 1857. Written by 

10 Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, whose bust sits 

11 inside the entrance to the Old Supreme Court 

12 Chamber in the United States Capitol, this opinion 

13 declared that African Americans were not citizens of 

14 the United States and could not sue in Federal 

15 courts. This decision further declared that Congress 

16 did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the 

17 territories. 

18 (2) Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s author19 ship of Dred Scott v. Sandford, the effects of which 

20 would only be overturned years later by the ratifica21 tion of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the 

22 Constitution of the United States, renders a bust of 

23 his likeness unsuitable for the honor of display to 

24 the many visitors to the United States Capitol. 


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1 (3) As Frederick Douglass said of this decision 

2 in May 1857, ‘‘This infamous decision of the Slave3 holding wing of the Supreme Court maintains that 

4 slaves are within the contemplation of the Constitu5 tion of the United States, property; that slaves are 

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

7 swine are property; that the old doctrine that slavery 

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

9 the slaveholder to his slave does not depend upon 

10 the local law, but is secured wherever the Constitu11 tion of the United States extends; that Congress has 

12 no right to prohibit slavery anywhere; that slavery 

13 may go in safety anywhere under the star-spangled 

14 banner; that colored persons of African descent have 

15 no rights that white men are bound to respect; that 

16 colored men of African descent are not and cannot 

17 be citizens of the United States.’’. 

18 (4) While the removal of Chief Justice Roger 

19 Brooke Taney’s bust from the United States Capitol 

20 does not relieve the Congress of the historical 

21 wrongs it committed to protect the institution of 

22 slavery, it expresses Congress’s recognition of one of 

23 the most notorious wrongs to have ever taken place 

24 in one of its rooms, that of Chief Justice Roger 

25 Brooke Taney’s Dred Scott v. Sandford decision. 


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1 (b) REMOVAL OF BUST OF ROGER BROOKE

2 TANEY.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the en3 actment of this Act, the Architect of the Capitol shall re4 move the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme 

5 Court Chamber of the United States Capitol. 

6 (c) REPLACEMENT WITH BUST OF THURGOOD MAR7 SHALL.— 

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

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

10 Committee on the Library shall enter into an agree11 ment to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall, under 

12 such terms and conditions as the Joint Committee 

13 considers appropriate consistent with applicable law. 

14 (2) PLACEMENT.—The Joint Committee on the 

15 Library shall place the bust obtained under para16 graph (1) in the location in the Old Supreme Court 

17 Chamber of the United States Capitol where the 

18 bust of Roger Brooke Taney was located prior to re19 moval by the Architect of the Capitol under sub20 section (b). 

21 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF CERTAIN STATUES. 

22 (a) REMOVAL.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act, the Architect of the Capitol 

24 shall remove the statue of Charles Brantley Aycock, the 

25 statute of John Caldwell Calhoun, and the statue of James 


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1 Paul Clarke from any area of the United States Capitol 

2 which is accessible to the public. 

3 (b) STORAGE OF STATUES.—The Architect of the 

4 Capitol shall keep any statue removed under subsection 

5 (a) in storage until the Architect and the State which pro6 vided the statue arrange for the return of the statue to 

7 the State. 

8 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS AND REMOVAL PROCEDURES FOR 

9 STATUES IN NATIONAL STATUARY HALL. 

10 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 1814 of the Revised 

11 Statutes (2 U.S.C. 2131) is amended by inserting ‘‘(other 

12 than persons who served as an officer or voluntarily with 

13 the Confederate States of America or of the military forces 

14 or government of a State while the State was in rebellion 

15 against the United States)’’ after ‘‘military services’’. 

16 (b) STATUE REMOVAL PROCEDURES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Architect of the Capitol 

18 shall— 

19 (A) identify all statues on display in the 

20 United States Capitol that do not meet the re21 quirements of section 1814 of the Revised Stat22 utes (2 U.S.C. 2131), as amended by subsection 

23 (a); and 

24 (B) subject to the approval of the Joint 

25 Committee of Congress on the Library, arrange 


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1 for the removal of each such statue from the 

2 Capitol by not later than 120 days after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act. 

4 (2) REMOVAL AND RETURN OF STATUES.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara6 graph (C), the Architect of the Capitol shall ar7 range to transfer and deliver any statue that is 

8 removed under this subsection to the Smithso9 nian Institution. 

10 (B) STORAGE OR DISPLAY OF STATUES.— 

11 The Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Insti12 tution shall follow the policies and procedures 

13 of the Smithsonian Institution, as in effect on 

14 the day before the date of enactment of this 

15 Act, regarding the storage and display of any 

16 statue transferred under subparagraph (A). 

17 (C) STATE REQUESTS.—A statue provided 

18 for display by a State that is removed under 

19 this subsection shall be returned to the State, 

20 and the ownership of the statue transferred to 

21 the State, if the State so requests and agrees 

22 to pay any costs related to the transportation of 

23 the statue to the State. 

24 (3) REPLACEMENT OF STATUES.—A State that 

25 has a statue removed under this subsection shall be 


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1 able to replace such statue in accordance with the 

2 requirements and procedures of section 1814 of the 

3 Revised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 2131) and section 311 of 

4 the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2001 (2 

5 U.S.C. 2132). 

6 (4) AUTHORIZATION AND APPROPRIATIONS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—There are appropriated 

8 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, 

9 out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 

10 appropriated, $5,000,000 to carry out this sec11 tion, including the costs related to the removal, 

12 transfer, security, storage, and display of the 

13 statues described in paragraph (1)(A), of 

14 which— 

15 (i) $2,000,000 shall be made available 

16 to the Architect of the Capitol; and 

17 (ii) $3,000,000 shall be made avail18 able to the Smithsonian Institution. 

19 (B) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appro20 priated under subparagraph (A) shall remain 

21 available until expended. 

22 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 In addition to the amounts appropriated under sec24 tion 3(b)(4), there are authorized to be appropriated such 

25 sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act, and any 


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1 amounts so appropriated shall remain available until ex2 pended. 

Æ 


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