[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5229 Considered and Passed Senate (CPS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5229

To direct the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library to remove the 
  bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the 
 Capitol and to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall for installation in 
     the Capitol or on the Capitol Grounds, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 8, 2022

Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Booker) 
 introduced the following bill; which was read twice, considered, read 
                       the third time, and passed

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library to remove the 
  bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the 
 Capitol and to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall for installation in 
     the Capitol or on the Capitol Grounds, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. REPLACEMENT OF BUST OF ROGER BROOKE TANEY WITH BUST OF 
              THURGOOD MARSHALL.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) While sitting in the Capitol, the Supreme Court issued 
        the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision on March 6, 1857. 
        Written by Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, whose bust sits 
        inside the entrance to the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the 
        Capitol, this opinion declared that African Americans were not 
        citizens of the United States and could not sue in Federal 
        courts. This decision further declared that Congress did not 
        have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories.
            (2) Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney's authorship of Dred 
        Scott v. Sandford, the effects of which would only be 
        overturned years later by the ratification of the 13th, 14th, 
        and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, 
        renders a bust of his likeness unsuitable for the honor of 
        display to the many visitors to the Capitol.
            (3) As Frederick Douglass said of this decision in May 
        1857, ``This infamous decision of the Slaveholding wing of the 
        Supreme Court maintains that slaves are within the 
        contemplation of the Constitution of the United States, 
        property; that slaves are property in the same sense that 
        horses, sheep, and swine are property; that the old doctrine 
        that slavery is a creature of local law is false; that the 
        right of the slaveholder to his slave does not depend upon the 
        local law, but is secured wherever the Constitution of the 
        United States extends; that Congress has no right to prohibit 
        slavery anywhere; that slavery may go in safety anywhere under 
        the star-spangled banner; that colored persons of African 
        descent have no rights that White men are bound to respect; 
        that colored men of African descent are not and cannot be 
        citizens of the United States.''.
            (4) While the removal of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney's 
        bust from the Capitol does not relieve the Congress of the 
        historical wrongs it committed to protect the institution of 
        slavery, it expresses Congress's recognition of one of the most 
        notorious wrongs to have ever taken place in one of its rooms, 
        that of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney's Dred Scott v. 
        Sandford decision.
    (b) Removal of Bust of Roger Brooke Taney.--Not later than 45 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee of 
Congress on the Library (referred to in this Act as the ``Joint 
Committee'') shall remove from public display the bust of Roger Brooke 
Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol and the plinth 
upon which the bust is placed. The bust and plinth shall remain in the 
custody of the Senate Curator.
    (c) Bust of Thurgood Marshall.--
            (1) Obtaining bust.--Not later than 2 years after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee shall enter into 
        an agreement to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall, under such 
        terms and conditions as the Joint Committee considers 
        appropriate and consistent with applicable law.
            (2) Placement.--
                    (A) In general.--The Architect of the Capitol, 
                under the direction of the Joint Committee, shall 
                permanently install the bust obtained under paragraph 
                (1) in a prominent location in the Capitol or on the 
                United States Capitol Grounds, as described in section 
                5102 of title 40, United States Code.
                    (B) Priority for location.--In determining the 
                location for the permanent installation of the bust 
                obtained under paragraph (1), the Joint Committee shall 
                give priority to identifying an appropriate location 
                near the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol.
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