[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 747 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 747

  Recognizing the opening of the nonsectarian Museum of the Bible in 
 Washington, D.C., the only museum of its size and scope in the world 
                   devoted exclusively to the Bible.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 2, 2019

   Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Coons, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Blunt, Mr. 
 Boozman, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Risch, Mr. Rounds, Mr. Thune, Mr. Burr, Mr. 
  Perdue, and Mr. Enzi) submitted the following resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

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                               RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing the opening of the nonsectarian Museum of the Bible in 
 Washington, D.C., the only museum of its size and scope in the world 
                   devoted exclusively to the Bible.

Whereas the Bible has played a prominent role in the culture of the United 
        States and has been a significant influence throughout the history of 
        our Nation;
Whereas, in 1956, Congress passed a Joint Resolution adopting ``In God We 
        Trust'' as the official motto of the United States;
Whereas, in 1982, Congress passed the Joint Resolution entitled ``Joint 
        Resolution authorizing and requesting the President to proclaim 1983 as 
        the `Year of the Bible''' (Public Law 97-280), finding that the Bible 
        ``has made a unique contribution in shaping the United States as a 
        distinctive and blessed nation and people'';
Whereas, on November 17, 2017, the Museum of the Bible opened a 430,000 square 
        foot nonprofit museum in Washington, D.C., 3 blocks from the Capitol, 
        and will be free to all visitors;
Whereas the Museum of the Bible is a nonsectarian institution that does not 
        promote any faith or denomination;
Whereas, in 2014, the architectural concept submission for the Museum of the 
        Bible was approved by the Commission of Fine Arts, the local Washington, 
        D.C., Advisory Neighborhood Commission, and the Historic Preservation 
        Review Board, and the primary building of the Museum of the Bible was 
        awarded historical status by the Historic Preservation Review Board;
Whereas the Museum of the Bible will have 3 primary exhibit floors focused on 
        the history, narrative, and impact of the Bible;
Whereas the entrance to the Museum of the Bible will feature two 40-foot-tall 
        bronze panels that contain the first lines of Genesis in Latin, as 
        originally printed in the Gutenberg Bible, and art glass panels 
        featuring a papyrus containing the 19th psalm; and
Whereas the Museum of the Bible is an innovative, global, nonsectarian 
        educational institution the purpose of which is to permit all people to 
        engage with the Bible: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the opening of the Museum of the Bible in 
        Washington, D.C., the first nonsectarian museum of its kind in 
        the capital of the United States focused exclusively on the 
        history, narrative, and impact of the Bible; and
            (2) commends the leadership, staff, scholars, designers, 
        construction workers, and volunteers who worked tirelessly to 
        realize the goal of opening a museum, free to the public, with 
        the nonsectarian purpose of ``inviting all people to engage 
        with the Bible''.
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