[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 402 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 402

To direct the Joint Committee on the Library to enter into an agreement 
with the Harriet Tubman Statue Commission of the State of Maryland for 
the acceptance of a statue of Harriet Tubman for display in a prominent 
                 location in the United States Capitol.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 15, 2017

 Mr. Van Hollen (for himself and Mr. Cardin) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and 
                             Administration

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                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Joint Committee on the Library to enter into an agreement 
with the Harriet Tubman Statue Commission of the State of Maryland for 
the acceptance of a statue of Harriet Tubman for display in a prominent 
                 location in the United States Capitol.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Harriet Tubman was born a slave under the given name 
        Araminta Ross in Maryland in about 1820.
            (2) Beaten severely as a child, she suffered a traumatic 
        head injury at the hand of a slave owner early in her life, 
        which caused a lifetime of headaches, seizures, and vision 
        difficulties.
            (3) In 1849, she fled north to freedom and then immediately 
        returned to Maryland, risking her life to free her family.
            (4) She joined the Underground Railroad, which was a secret 
        network for free African-Americans and White sympathizers who 
        helped runaway slaves escape the South.
            (5) She became known as ``the Moses to her people'' as a 
        conductor on the Underground Railroad, risking her life time 
        and time again to return to Maryland and lead slaves to 
        freedom.
            (6) When the Civil War began, she became a Union spy, 
        organizing an espionage network of slaves and freedmen who 
        operated behind Confederate lines.
            (7) On several occasions, she led military raiding parties 
        and also tended to the Union wounded as an army nurse.
            (8) After the Civil War, she devoted herself to women's 
        suffrage, the care of orphans and invalids, and the 
        establishment of freedmen's schools.
            (9) The State of Maryland, where Harriet Tubman was born, 
        has authorized a gift of a statue of Harriet Tubman from the 
        citizens of Maryland to the United States government to 
        commemorate her work on behalf of civil rights and service to 
        our Nation.

SEC. 2. AGREEMENT FOR ACCEPTANCE OF STATUE OF HARRIET TUBMAN; DISPLAY 
              OF STATUE IN CAPITOL.

    (a) Agreement With Maryland Commission.--Not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee on the 
Library shall enter into an agreement with the Harriet Tubman Statue 
Commission of the State of Maryland under which the Commission shall 
provide, and the Joint Committee shall accept, a statue of Harriet 
Tubman, under such terms and conditions as the Joint Committee and the 
Commission consider appropriate.
    (b) Display in Capitol.--After receiving the statue provided under 
the agreement entered into under subsection (a), the Joint Committee on 
the Library shall place the statue in a prominent permanent location in 
the United States Capitol.
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