[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.
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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
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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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