Norton Introduces Bill for D.C. Seal to Join the State Seals in the Library of Congress Main Reading Room

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today introduced a bill to require the Library of Congress to install the District of Columbia’s seal in the stained-glass windows of the Thomas Jefferson Building’s Main Reading Room, which contains the seals of all states and territories that existed when the building was constructed, except for the District seal. Norton’s introduction of the bill coincidentally comes as D.C. resident Ashley Brandt, a D.C. preschool teacher, earlier this week was initially prevented from boarding a flight because a Transportation Security Administration agent wrongfully believed that a D.C.-issued license was an invalid form of identification. Thus, today’s bill also serves as a necessary reminder to the nation of D.C.’s ongoing struggle for equality.

Last July, the Congresswoman’s office was alerted to the omission of the District by Luis Landau, a D.C. resident and former docent at the Library of Congress, who then accompanied Norton on an inspection of the Main Reading Room. However, during the tour, Norton also learned that the Members of Congress Room, also in the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, which is not open to the public, in fact has a painted depiction of the D.C. seal, along with states, on its ceiling. Norton said that precedent reinforces her insistence that D.C. be represented in the Main Reading Room as it is in the Members of Congress Room. Norton said, “The time to add the District seal is now, during the planned restoration of the stained-glass windows in the Main Reading Room.”

In her statement for the Congressional Record introducing the bill, Norton said, “The residents of the District of Columbia have always had all the obligations of American citizenship, including paying federal taxes and service in all the nation’s wars, including the War of 1812, during which the Capitol building, which then housed the Library of Congress, was burned, prompting construction of the current Library of Congress building with the state and territory seals. It is, therefore, without question that the District and its residents should receive equal treatment among the stained-glass windows that portray the history of the United States. D.C. residents deserve to have their history and American citizenship recognized.”

Norton has successfully fought to correct the omission of D.C. residents from many of the symbols of American citizenship, with two victories last year. Last June, after a nearly 12-year legislative fight to permit D.C., like the 50 states, to display a statue in the U.S. Capitol, the District’s first-ever statue was unveiled in the U.S. Capitol. D.C.’s Frederick Douglass statue now sits in the Capitol alongside the statues from the 50 states. In January 2013, the President signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, which contained a provision Norton sought requiring the armed services to display the District of Columbia flag whenever the flags of the 50 states are displayed. In addition, Norton has succeeded in getting legislation enacted to give D.C. a coin after it was omitted from legislation creating coins for the 50 states, and D.C.’s Duke Ellington coin is in circulation today. Norton also successfully worked with the U.S. Postal Service to create a D.C. stamp, like the stamps for the 50 states. She also got the National Park Service to fly the D.C. flag alongside the state flag at Union Station.

Norton’s full introduction statement follows.

Statement of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton on the Introduction of a bill to Require the Library of Congress to install the D.C. Seal in the Main Reading Room of the Thomas Jefferson Building

February 27, 2014

Ms. Norton. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce a bill to require the Library of Congress (LOC) to install the District of Columbia seal in the Main Reading Room of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the LOC. The bill calls on the Library of Congress to take the appropriate action to depict the seal of the District of Columbia on the stained-glass windows in the Main Reading Room, where the seals of the states are depicted. Currently, the stained-glass windows contain the seals of all states and territories that existed when the building was constructed, except for the seal of the District of Columbia, whose seal was readily available at the time and should have been depicted. This omission was brought to my attention by a District resident, Luis Landau, a former docent at the Library. We are asking that this omission be corrected at the earliest time. In addition to the omission of the District of Columbia, the only currently unrepresented states from the stained-glass display are Hawaii and Alaska, but they were not states or territories when the building was constructed. The fact that these two states were not part of the Union at the time of the creation of the stained-glass windows argues for a depiction of the District seal as well, which, after all, was in fact the nation’s capital at the time.

The residents of the District of Columbia have always had all the obligations of American citizenship, including paying federal taxes and service in all the nation’s wars, including the War of 1812, during which the Capitol building, which then housed the Library of Congress, was burned, prompting construction of the current Library of Congress building with the state and territory seals. It is, therefore, without question that the District and its residents should receive equal treatment among the stained-glass windows that portray the history of the United States. D.C. residents deserve to have their history and American citizenship recognized.

There is existing evidence that the seal of the District of Columbia should have been depicted. The Members of Congress room in the Jefferson Building, which is not open to the public, has a painted depiction of the D.C. seal, along with state seals, on its ceiling. This precedent reinforces our request to be represented among the stained-glass windows in the Main Reading Room, which is open to the public. There is no reason why the D.C. seal cannot be added with the planned restoration of the stained-glass. The right time to add the seal of the District of Columbia, whose residents pay full taxes and have served in all the nation’s wars, like the residents of the 50 states, would be during the planned restoration.

Congress already automatically includes the District of Columbia and its residents, or has corrected the omission of the District of Columbia, when honoring the states. For example, the District of Columbia War Memorial honors District residents who served in World War I, the World War II Memorial includes a column representing the District of Columbia, the flag of the District of Columbia is displayed among the flags of the fifty states in the tunnel connecting the House office buildings to the Capitol, and D.C.’s Frederick Douglass statue now sits in the Capitol alongside the statues from the 50 states. In January of last year, the President signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, which contains language requiring the armed services to display the District of Columbia flag whenever the flags of the states are displayed. Legislation was also enacted to give D.C. a coin after it was omitted from legislation creating coins for the 50 states. I also successfully worked with the U.S. Postal Service to create a D.C. stamp, like the stamps for the 50 states, and worked with the National Park Service to add the D.C. flag alongside the state flags. Inclusion of the D.C. seal, along with the seals of the states, is the next step.

I urge support of this legislation.

Published: February 27, 2014