House Passes Bill to Place D.C.’s Frederick Douglass Statue in U.S. Capitol

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) was very pleased that the House today passed a bill, H.R. 6336, to move the District of Columbia's Frederick Douglass statue to the United States Capitol. The bill was introduced by Committee on House Administration Chairman Dan Lungren (R-CA) and co-sponsored by Norton. It is similar to a concurrent resolution, S. Con. Res. 49, introduced in June by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration, and Norton hopes the Senate will pass the bill shortly. The statue move was also included in the fiscal year 2013 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill, passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee in June, led by Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Subcommittee Chairman and Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL). The Douglass statue would be only the third statue or bust in the Capitol that honors an African American.

"I very much appreciate Chairman Lungren's continuous efforts that culminated in today's bill, the very first day of the post-summer recess session," Norton said. "My constituents and I are grateful that the Frederick Douglass statue caught the attention of two Senators as well. Not only is Douglass one of the nation's greatest human rights heroes, he was one of the most notable Americans of his time, who served as charge d'affaires for the Dominican Republic and president of the Reconstruction-era Freedman's Savings Bank. For the residents of the District, Douglass was first and foremost a D.C. resident, the first Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia, and a distinguished Republican. He is now one step closer to being honored with a statue in Emancipation Hall in the U.S. Capitol, a statue that has been on display at One Judiciary Square."

"House passage is an important step in our effort to finally bring national civil rights leader Frederick Douglass to the U.S. Capitol, where his statue belongs," said U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, sponsor of the original legislation in the Senate. Schumer is Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee and the joint committee that oversees Capitol statuary and art. "I will push for final Congressional approval by the Senate very quickly, so we can send this legislation to President Obama to sign by the end of this month. Once Frederick Douglass's statute is in the Capitol, millions of Americans who visit every year will at last be able to see and learn more about this great American."

"As one our nation's most powerful voices for justice and the equality of all people, Frederick Douglass' writings and teachings still speak to Americans today," Durbin said. "Moving a statue of Frederick Douglass to the United States Capitol would not only recognize the accomplishments of one of the most important political activists in American history, it would also help correct the imbalance of influential African-Americans honored in the halls of our nation's Capitol."

Published: September 10, 2012