A bill to direct the Joint Committee on the Library, in accordance with section 1831 of the Revised Statutes, to accept a statue depicting Harriet Tubman from the Harriet Tubman Statue Commission of Maryland and display the statue in a prominent location in the Capitol.
Bill: S.663 | Sponsor: Sen. Van Hollen, Chris (D-MD)
Policy area: Congress

Summary:
This bill directs the Joint Committee on the Library to accept from the Harriet Tubman Statue Commission of Maryland the donation of a statue of Harriet Tubman, which the Architect of the Capitol shall place in a prominent, permanent location in the U.S. Capitol.

To direct the Joint Committee on the Library, in accordance with 
  section 1831 of the Revised Statutes, to accept a statue depicting 
 Harriet Tubman from the Harriet Tubman Statue Commission of Maryland 
     and display the statue in a prominent location in the Capitol.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Harriet Tubman was born into slavery under the given 
        name Araminta Ross in Maryland in about 1820.
            (2) Beaten severely as a child, she suffered a traumatic 
        head injury at the hand of a slave owner early in her life, 
        which caused a lifetime of headaches, seizures, and vision 
        difficulties.
            (3) In 1849, she fled north to freedom and then immediately 
        returned to Maryland, risking her life to free her family.
            (4) She joined the Underground Railroad, which was a secret 
        network of free African Americans and White sympathizers who 
        helped runaway slaves escape the South.
            (5) She became known as ``the Moses to her people'' as a 
        conductor on the Underground Railroad, risking her life time 
        and time again to return to Maryland and lead slaves to 
        freedom.
            (6) When the Civil War began, she became a Union spy, 
        organizing an espionage network of slaves and freedmen who 
        operated behind Confederate lines.
            (7) On several occasions, she led military raiding parties 
        and also tended to the Union wounded as an army nurse.
            (8) After the Civil War, she devoted herself to women's 
        suffrage, the care of orphans and invalids, and the 
        establishment of freedmen's schools.
            (9) The Harriet Tubman Statue Commission of Maryland has 
        authorized a gift of a statue of Harriet Tubman to the United 
        States Government to commemorate her work on behalf of civil 
        rights and service to our Nation.

SEC. 2. AGREEMENT FOR ACCEPTANCE OF STATUE OF HARRIET TUBMAN; DISPLAY 
              OF STATUE IN CAPITOL.

    (a) Authorization.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee on the Library shall accept 
from the Harriet Tubman Statue Commission of Maryland the donation of a 
statue depicting Harriet Tubman, subject to the terms and conditions 
that the Joint Committee considers appropriate.
    (b) Display in Capitol.--After receiving the statue provided under 
the agreement entered into under subsection (a), the Architect of the 
Capitol, under the direction of the Joint Committee on the Library, 
shall place the statue in a prominent permanent location in the 
Capitol.
    (c) Costs.--All costs associated with the donation, including 
transportation of the statue to, and placement in, the Capitol, shall 
be paid by the Harriet Tubman Statue Commission of Maryland.
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