WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) was joined by several lawmakers, including Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13), House Majority Whip James Clyburn (SC-06), Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Congresswoman Karen Bass (CA-37), Congressman G.K. Butterfield (NC-01), Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (MS-02), Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02), Congressman John Sarbanes (MD-03), Congressman Anthony Brown (MD-04), Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Congressman David Trone (MD-06), Congressman Kweisi Mfume (MD-07); Chairman of the Rules Committee Jim McGovern (MD-02), Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Congressman Tom Malinowski (NJ-07), and Congresswomen Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Nikema Williams (GA-05) in writing a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) demanding action on H.R. 3005, legislation to remove the bust of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney from the U.S. Capitol building and replace it with a bust of Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall. The House passed this legislation over a year ago on June 26, 2021 to remove from public display in the U.S. Capitol other statues or busts that are symbols of slavery and segregation, including those of individuals who served voluntarily in the Confederate States of America. This letter is a follow up letter to one the lawmakers sent on September 24, 2021.
“We write to follow up from the letter we sent to Leader Schumer on September 24 of last year regarding H.R. 3005, which was passed by the House both this Congress and last,” the lawmakers wrote. “This legislation would provide for the bust of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney to be removed permanently from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the U.S. Capitol, an honor that he, as author of the heinous 1857 Dred Scott v. Sanford ruling, does not deserve.”
“It is shameful that individuals who fought to uphold slavery, participated in seditious rebellion, or worked to promote segregation remain honored in such a way. It is an indignity for African-American Members, staff, and visitors to the Capitol buildings to be confronted with these memorials to those who viewed African Americans as inferior and unworthy of full and equal inclusion under our Constitution. It is essential that we correct this injustice now. We implore you to bring this legislation up for consideration so that these odious symbols can be removed from the sacred halls of our American temple to democracy,” the lawmakers continued.
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Hon. Chuck Schumer
Majority Leader
United States Senate
322 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Hon. Amy Klobuchar
Chair
U.S. Senate Committee on Rules &
Administration
301 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Hon. Mitch McConnell
Republican Leader
United States Senate
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Hon. Roy Blunt
Ranking Member
U.S. Senate Committee on Rules &
Administration
301 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Senators Schumer, McConnell, Klobuchar, and Blunt:
We write to follow up from the letter we sent to Leader Schumer on September 24 of last year regarding H.R. 3005, which was passed by the House both this Congress and last. This legislation would provide for the bust of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney to be removed permanently from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the U.S. Capitol; as author of the heinous 1857 Dred Scott v. Sanford ruling, Taney does not deserve that honor. Furthermore, the bill calls for the removal of other statuary depicting individuals who either served the Confederacy or were active in promoting the institutions of slavery and segregation. With the end of the 117th Congress approaching later this year, we write to ask again that you bring H.R. 3005 up for a vote in the Senate without delay.
Memorialization as part of the collection of artwork in the U.S. Capitol is one of the highest honors available to Americans and those who have stood with our country in defense of liberty and democracy. It is shameful that individuals who fought to uphold slavery, participated in seditious rebellion, or worked to promote segregation remain honored in such a way. It is an indignity for African-American Members, staff, and visitors to the Capitol buildings to be confronted with these memorials to those who viewed African Americans as inferior and unworthy of full and equal inclusion under our Constitution. It is essential that we correct this injustice now.
Introduced by Leader Hoyer, H.R. 3005 passed the House on June 29, 2021, and has been awaiting Senate action ever since. We implore you to bring this legislation up for consideration so that these odious symbols can be removed from the sacred halls of our American temple to democracy. On January 6 last year, Americans were shocked and appalled to see the Confederate battle flag carried into the Capitol by insurrectionists; African-American Members, staff, and visitors must see just as poignant a symbol of injustice every single day in the likenesses of these individuals who were at the root of what that flag represents. That must end. It is time for Roger Brooke Taney, John C. Calhoun, Charles Aycock, James Paul Clarke, Jefferson Davis, James Z. George, Wade Hampton, John Kenna, Uriah Rose, Alexander Stephens, Zebulon Vance, Joseph Wheeler, Edward White, and John C. Breckenridge to leave the Capitol and not return. Statues memorializing each of these individuals would be removed under H.R. 3005. This legislation would also replace Taney’s bust with one of another Marylander: Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. We hope that you will take steps to allow the Senate to act on this bill without further. delay. We thank you for your consideration of this request to advance H.R. 3005 and the important and meaningful goals it seeks to achieve, long overdue.
Sincerely,