Title: 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.
Policy area: Congress

Summary:
This bill provides for the removal of certain statues and busts from display in the Capitol.
The bill directs the Joint Committee 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 with which to replace it.
The Joint Committee on the Library must remove all Confederate statutes and busts, as well as the statues of Charles Brantley Aycock, John Caldwell Calhoun, and James Paul Clarke, from areas of the Capitol accessible to the public. Furthermore, the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) must store each removed statue.
Additionally, the bill

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3005 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3005

  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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 7, 2021

   Mr. Hoyer (for himself, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Clyburn, Mrs. 
Beatty, Ms. Bass, Mr. Brown, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Cooper, 
 Mr. Malinowski, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Mfume, Ms. Norton, Mr. Raskin, Mr. 
    Ruppersberger, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Trone, and Mr. 
  Sarbanes) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  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.

    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 United States 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 United States 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 United States 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 United States 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 the enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee on the 
Library shall remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme 
Court Chamber of the United States Capitol.
    (c) Replacement With Bust of Thurgood Marshall.--
            (1) Obtaining bust.--Not later than 2 years after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee on the 
        Library shall enter into an agreement to obtain a bust of 
        Thurgood Marshall, under such terms and conditions as the Joint 
        Committee considers appropriate consistent with applicable law.
            (2) Placement.--The Joint Committee on the Library shall 
        place the bust obtained under paragraph (1) in the location in 
        the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the United States Capitol 
        where the bust of Roger Brooke Taney was located prior to 
        removal by the Architect of the Capitol under subsection (b).

SEC. 2. 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 
voluntarily in the military forces or government of 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 United States 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 on the library.--The 
                Joint Committee on the Library shall arrange for the 
                removal of each statue identified by the Architect of 
                the Capitol under subparagraph (A) from any area of the 
                United States Capitol which is accessible to the public 
                by not later than 120 days after the date of the 
                enactment of this Act.
            (2) Return of statues.--A statue which is removed under 
        this subsection and which was provided for display by a State 
        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).
    (c) Storage.--The Architect of the Capitol shall keep any statue 
removed under this section in storage pending the return of the statue 
to the State.

SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF CERTAIN OTHER STATUES AND BUSTS.

    (a) Confederate Statues and Busts.--
            (1) Removal.--Not later than 45 days after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee on the Library, 
        together with the Curator of the House of Representatives or 
        the Curator of the Senate (as the case may be), shall remove 
        all Confederate statues and Confederate busts from any area of 
        the United States Capitol which is accessible to the public.
            (2) Definitions.--
                    (A) Confederate statue.--In this subsection, the 
                term ``Confederate statue'' means a statue which was 
                provided by a State for display in the United States 
                Capitol that depicts--
                            (i) any individual who served voluntarily 
                        at any time as a member of the Armed Forces of 
                        the Confederate States of America or of the 
                        military of a State while the State was in open 
                        rebellion against the United States; or
                            (ii) any individual who served as an 
                        official of the Government of the Confederate 
                        States of America or as an official of a State 
                        while the State was in open rebellion against 
                        the United States.
                    (B) Confederate bust.--In this subsection, the term 
                ``Confederate bust'' means a bust which depicts an 
                individual described in clause (i) or (ii) of 
                subparagraph (A).
    (b) Other Statues.--Not later than 45 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee on the Library shall remove 
the statue of Charles Brantley Aycock, the statue of John Caldwell 
Calhoun, and the statue of James Paul Clarke from any area of the 
United State Capitol which is accessible to the public.
    (c) Storage.--The Architect of the Capitol shall keep any statue or 
bust removed under this section in storage.
    (d) Exclusion of Statues Subject to Other Removal Procedures.--This 
subsection does not apply with respect to any statue which is subject 
to removal under section 2.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    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.
                                 <all>