Joint resolution dedicating the Lee Mansion in Arlington National Cemetery as a permanent memorial to Robert E. Lee
PL 84-107 (S.J.Res.62), enacted 06/29/1955

190 
PUBLIC LAW 107-JUNE 29, 1955 
[69 S T A T 
Appropriation. 
Post, p. 461. 
Transfer to GSA. 
progress of the planning and construction of the building. 
Upon 
completion of the building, the Joint Committee shall submit a final 
report. 
OEC. 5. That there are hereby authorized to be appropriated to the 
Eegents of the Smithsonian Institution such sums, not to exceed 
$36,000,000, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this 
Act: Provided, That appropriations for this purpose, except such part 
as may be necessary for the incidental expenses of the Regents of the 
Smithsonian Institution in connection with this project, shall be trans-
ferred to the General Services Administration for the performance 
of the work. 
Approved June 28, 1955. 
Public Law 107 
CHAPTER 223 
June 29. 1955 
JOINT RESOLUTION 
[S. J. Res. 62] 
Dedicating the Lee Mansion in Arlington National Cemetery as a permanent 
memorial to Robert E. Lee. 
43 Stat. 135& 
Robert E. Lee. 
C on gr e ssional 
tribute. 
Custis-Lee Man-
sion. 
De di c ation as 
memorial. 
Whereas the ninth day of April 1955 is the ninetieth anniversary of 
the Appomattox cessation of hostilities between our States; and 
Whereas of the two great figures therein involved, one. General Ulysses 
S. Grant, has been highly honored by becoming President of the 
United States, but the other, Robert E. Lee, has never been suitably 
memorialized by the National Government; and 
Whereas Robert E. Lee had graduated from West Point, dedicated 
himself to an Army career, and became a colonel in the United States 
Army, then the commander of the Confederate forces, attained 
world renown as a military genius, and after Appomattox fervently 
devoted himself to peace, to the reuniting of the Nation, and to the 
advancement of youth education and the welfare and progress of 
mankind, becoming president of the Washington and Lee University 
at Lexington, Virginia; and 
Whereas the desire and hope of Robert E. Lee for peace and unity 
within our Nation has come to pass in the years since his death, and 
the United States of America now stands united and firm, indivisible, 
and unshakable; and 
Whereas Public Resolution Numbered 74, Sixty-eighth Congress, 
approved March 4,1925, provided for the physical restoration of the 
Lee Mansion but did not dedicate the same as a permanent memorial 
to Robert E. Lee: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the Congress of the 
United States, at this anniversary time, does hereby pay honor and 
tribute to the everlasting memory of Robert E. Lee, whose name will 
ever be bright in our history as a great military leader, a great edu-
cator, a great American, and a truly great man through the simple 
heritage of his personal traits of high character, his grandeur of soul, 
his unfailing strength of heart. 
SEC. 2. That the Congress of the United States does hereby express 
its humble gratitude to a kind Providence for blessing our Nation 
with leaders of true greatness who, like Robert E. Lee, have been able 
to see beyond their times, and by whose vision, guidance, and wisdom 
this Nation has gone forward to a place of world leadership as the 
unfaltering and powerful champion of peace, liberty, and justice. 
SEC. 3. That the magnificent manor house situated in its prominent 
position at the brow of a hill overlooking the Potomac River in Arling-
ton National Cemetery, and popularly known as Lee Mansion, be 
69 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 109-JUNE 29, 1955 
191 
officially designated as the Custis-Lee Mansion, so as to give appropri-
ate recognition to the illustrious Virginia family in which General Lee 
found his wife, and that the Custis-Lee Mansion is hereby dedicated as 
a permanent memorial to Robert E. Lee, and the Secretary of the 
Interior is authorized and directed to erect on the aforesaid premises 
a suitable memorial plaque, and to correct governmental records to 
bring them into compliance with the designation authorized by this 
joint resolution. 
Approved June 29, 1955. 
Public Law 108 
CHAPTER 224 
AN ACT 
To provide for the transmission in the mails of live scorpions. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Rep7'esentatwes of the 
United States of America in Congress dsseinbled^ That section 1716 
of title 18 of the United States (^ode is amended by inserting 
immediately after the second paragraph thereof the following new 
paragraph: 
"The Postmaster General is authorized and directed to permit the 
transmission in the mails, under regulations to be prescribed by him, 
of live scorpions which are to be used for purposes of medical research 
or for the manufacture of antivenin. 
Such regulations shall include 
such provisions with respect to the packaging of such live scorpions 
for transmission in the mails as the Postmaster General deems neces-
sary or advisable for the protection of Post Office Department per-
sonnel and of the public generally and for ease of handling by such 
[)ersonnel and by any individual connected with such research or 
manufacture. 
Nothing contained in this paragraph shall be con-
strued to authorize the transmission in the mails of live scorpions by 
means of aircraft engaged in the carriage of passengers for compensa-
tion or hire." 
Approved June 29, 1955. 
June 29, 1955 
[S. J5] 
62 Stat. 781. 
Public Law 109 
CHAPTER 225 
JOINT RESOLUTION 
june 29, 1955 
Authorizing the erection of a memorial gift from the Government of Venezuela, 
[H. J. Res. 232] 
Resolved hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United, 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That the Secretary of the 
Interior is authorized to accept, on behalf of the Government of the 
United States, a statue of the liberator, Simon Bolivar, to be erected 
.on public grounds under the administration of the Secretary of the 
Interior, as a gift to the Goverimient of the United States from the 
Government of Venezuela as a token of friendship. 
SEC. 2. The design and site of such statue shall be approved by the 
Secretary of the Interior, the National Capital Planning Commission, 
and the Commission of Fine Arts, and the United States shall be put 
to no expense in or by the erection of this statue. 
SEC. ?>. (a) The authority conferred pursuant to this joint resolution 
shall lapse unless the erection of such statue is commenced within five 
years after the date of the passage of this joint resolution. 
(b) All Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent herewith are hereby 
repealed to the extent of such inconsistencies. 
Approved June 29, 1955. 
Simon B o l i v a r 
statue. 
Acceptance.