[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4163 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4163

      To direct the Secretary of the Interior to install a plaque 
commemorating the Dred Scott decision at the entrance to the Old Court 
          House in the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 25, 1998

   Mr. Clay introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To direct the Secretary of the Interior to install a plaque 
commemorating the Dred Scott decision at the entrance to the Old Court 
          House in the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that the Old Courthouse located in the Jefferson 
National Expansion Memorial in Saint Louis, Missouri, is the place 
where a slave named Dred Scott fought for his freedom in a landmark 
trial that found the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional and 
precipitated the Civil War, and is therefore one of our Nation's most 
important historic sites.

SEC. 2. INSTALLATION OF PLAQUE COMMEMORATING DRED SCOTT DECISION IN 
              JEFFERSON NATIONAL EXPANSION MEMORIAL.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall install a 
plaque commemorating the Supreme Court decision in the case Dred Scott 
v. John Sanford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857), at the entrance to the Old 
Courthouse located in the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in 
Saint Louis, Missouri.
    (b) Contents of Plaque.--The plaque shall include information 
regarding--
            (1) the important facts about Dred Scott's life and death; 
        and
            (2) the significance of the Dred Scott case to the Missouri 
        Compromise and the Civil War.
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