[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 65 (Friday, May 10, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E775]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  WOMEN, THEIR RIGHTS AND NOTHING LESS

                                 ______


                          HON. JOHN J. LaFALCE

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 10, 1996

  Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, for some months now, the House has left 
unresolved an issue of importance to many of us in the Congress and 
across the Nation--namely, moving the statue of suffragists Susan B. 
Anthony, Lucretia Mott, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton from the crypt of 
the Capitol to the rotunda.
  The sculpture, known as the Portrait Monument, was presented in 1921 
as a gift to the Capitol from the National Woman's Party. After a 
dedication ceremony in the rotunda, the statue was moved to the crypt, 
leaving, to this day, no statues in the rotunda honoring women.
  By a vote of 100 to 0, the Senate last July approved the concurrent 
resolution authorizing placement of the statue in the rotunda. However, 
when the Resolution came up for consideration in the House last 
October, it was derailed by a group of Members who objected to the use 
of taxpayer money to relocate the statue. I found this objection 
puzzling since public funds are routinely used to acquire and maintain 
works of art in the Capitol complex. But I find it even more puzzling 
why the House leadership and those objecting to using taxpayer money 
did not turn then--or in the 7 months since--to the privately raised 
funds available for this purpose through the Capitol Preservation 
Commission. There is no reason for this situation to be at a 
standstill.
  Mr. Speaker, the inscription that was originally on the Portrait 
Monument--and which was, unbelievably, painted over within months of 
the sculpture's arrival at the Capitol--is brief and inspiring and 
includes the phrase ``women, their rights and nothing less.'' Last year 
was the 75th anniversary of women's suffrage. It would have been most 
fitting for the monument to be moved then, but it was not because of 
this unnecessary dispute. We have also heard suggestions to place in 
the rotunda a substitute display honoring women suffragists. But it is 
the sculpture of Anthony, Mott, and Stanton that is the meaningful and 
appropriate tribute. Mr. Speaker, let us act without further delay and 
move the Portrait Monument. Nothing less.
  This issue has generated a great deal of attention in my district. 
Representative of this interest is a resolution passed by the Buffalo 
Federation of Women's Clubs, which I would like printed with my 
statement as further testimony of the support that exists around the 
country for moving the Portrait Monument.

                  Buffalo Federation of Women's Clubs


                               RESOLUTION

       Whereas, the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the final 
     approval of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of 
     the United States, granting suffrage to women, or the Woman's 
     Right to Vote Amendment, is being celebrated this year, and
       Whereas, The Buffalo Federation Of Woman's Clubs is 
     supporting the New York State Federation of Women's Clubs 
     restoration of the Susan B. Anthony House project in 
     Rochester, New York, and
       Whereas, The Buffalo Federation of Women's Clubs has been 
     made aware that a piece of statuary comprised of the figures 
     of Susan B. Anthony Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Stanton, 
     known as the ``Pioneer Suffrage State'' reposes in the crypt 
     of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., and
       Whereas, efforts to move the statute into the Rotunda of 
     the Capitol during this celebratory year, to join the 
     multitude of memorials to historical forefathers, have been 
     unsuccessful,
       Now, Therefore, The Buffalo Federation of Women's Clubs 
     goes on record as requesting that the ``Pioneer Suffrage 
     Statue'' be forthwith moved to a place of Honor in the 
     Rotunda of the Capitol, to honor all those who fought for 
     Woman's suffrage and to encourage women today and tomorrow to 
     continue to share in the universal electoral process basic to 
     America's Freedom.

                          ____________________