II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3005 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 12, 2021 

Received 

AN ACT 

To direct the Joint Committee on the Library 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 45 days after the date of the en3 actment of this Act, the Joint Committee on the Library 

4 shall remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old 

5 Supreme 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. REQUIREMENTS AND REMOVAL PROCEDURES FOR 

22 STATUES IN NATIONAL STATUARY HALL. 

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

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

25 than persons who served voluntarily in the military forces 


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1 or government of the Confederate States of America or 

2 in the military forces or government of a State while the 

3 State was in rebellion against the United States)’’ after 

4 ‘‘military services’’. 

5 (b) STATUE REMOVAL PROCEDURES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

7 (A) IDENTIFICATION BY ARCHITECT OF

8 THE CAPITOL.—The Architect of the Capitol 

9 shall identify all statues on display in the 

10 United States Capitol that do not meet the re11 quirements of section 1814 of the Revised Stat12 utes (2 U.S.C. 2131), as amended by subsection 

13 (a). 

14 (B) REMOVAL BY JOINT COMMITTEE ON

15 THE LIBRARY.—The Joint Committee on the 

16 Library shall arrange for the removal of each 

17 statue identified by the Architect of the Capitol 

18 under subparagraph (A) from any area of the 

19 United States Capitol which is accessible to the 

20 public by not later than 120 days after the date 

21 of the enactment of this Act. 

22 (2) RETURN OF STATUES.—A statue which is 

23 removed under this subsection and which was pro24 vided for display by a State shall be returned to the 

25 State, and the ownership of the statue transferred to 


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1 the State, if the State so requests and agrees to pay 

2 any costs related to the transportation of the statue 

3 to the State. 

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

5 has a statue removed under this subsection may re6 place such statue in accordance with the require7 ments and procedures of section 1814 of the Revised 

8 Statutes (2 U.S.C. 2131) and section 311 of the 

9 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2001 (2 

10 U.S.C. 2132). 

11 (c) STORAGE.—The Architect of the Capitol shall 

12 keep any statue removed under this section in storage 

13 pending the return of the statue to the State. 

14 SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF CERTAIN OTHER STATUES AND 

15 BUSTS. 

16 (a) CONFEDERATE STATUES AND BUSTS.— 

17 (1) REMOVAL.—Not later than 45 days after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Joint 

19 Committee on the Library, together with the Cura20 tor of the House of Representatives or the Curator 

21 of the Senate (as the case may be), shall remove all 

22 Confederate statues and Confederate busts from any 

23 area of the United States Capitol which is accessible 

24 to the public. 

25 (2) DEFINITIONS.— 


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1 (A) CONFEDERATE STATUE.—In this sub2 section, the term ‘‘Confederate statue’’ means a 

3 statue which was provided by a State for dis4 play in the United States Capitol that depicts— 

5 (i) any individual who served volun6 tarily at any time as a member of the 

7 Armed Forces of the Confederate States of 

8 America or of the military of a State while 

9 the State was in open rebellion against the 

10 United States; or 

11 (ii) any individual who served as an 

12 official of the Government of the Confed13 erate States of America or as an official of 

14 a State while the State was in open rebel15 lion against the United States. 

16 (B) CONFEDERATE BUST.—In this sub17 section, the term ‘‘Confederate bust’’ means a 

18 bust which depicts an individual described in 

19 clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A). 

20 (b) OTHER STATUES.—Not later than 45 days after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee 

22 on the Library shall remove the statue of Charles Brantley 

23 Aycock, the statue of John Caldwell Calhoun, and the 

24 statue of James Paul Clarke from any area of the United 

25 State Capitol which is accessible to the public. 


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1 (c) STORAGE.—The Architect of the Capitol shall 

2 keep any statue or bust removed under this section in stor3 age. 

4 (d) EXCLUSION OF STATUES SUBJECT TO OTHER

5 REMOVAL PROCEDURES.—This subsection does not apply 

6 with respect to any statue which is subject to removal 

7 under section 2. 

8 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

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

11 amounts so appropriated shall remain available until ex12 pended. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 29, 2021. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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