[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 47 (Thursday, April 13, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H2321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE REUNIFICATION OF THE PARTHENON MARBLES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call to the attention of my 
colleagues an issue of great importance to our Nation and to the 
international cultural community. I was tremendously pleased to learn 
that the matter of the Elgin Marbles is now being considered by the 
British Parliament and would like to offer my support for all efforts 
by the committee to conduct a thorough, authoritative examination of 
all the issues of return of the Parthenon Sculptures to the Acropolis.
  The House of Commons, committee on Culture, Media and Sport will be 
examining the issue of the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles as a 
part of its present Inquiry On Cultural Property: Return and Illicit 
Trade. Last week, the committee traveled to Athens to conduct on-site 
meetings on the issue with the Hellenic Republic.
  The Parthenon was built nearly 2,500 years ago by the original 
Periclean democracy. The Parthenon Marbles are the segments of the 
Parthenon temple frieze and structures removed by Lord Elgin from the 
Parthenon Temple in Athens to London in 1801 to 1816 under the 
circumstances of debatable legality.
  The subject of the Parthenon Marbles is not a Greek-British issue but 
one of international and U.S. interests. Within the international 
community, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural 
Organization, UNESCO, and the European Parliament have issued 
declarations urging that the Marbles be returned to Greece. From the 
major government buildings of all Western democracies to the emblem of 
UNESCO, the Parthenon is the recognized international symbol of culture 
and democracy.
  Within Great Britain, two polls over the last 2 years demonstrated 
that the British public favors the reunification of the Marbles. Last 
year, an Early Day Motion, signed by 112 members of the British 
Parliament, was presented urging the return of the Marbles. In March, 
the Economist magazine published a definitive article on the issue 
including its own poll of Parliament showing very significant support 
for the return of the Marbles.
  No modern legal concepts of cultural properties apply to the case of 
the Parthenon Marbles because of the following tragic coincidence. The 
removal of the Parthenon Marbles occurred on the eve of all modern 
treaties and international legal precepts regarding cultural property, 
even in the same decades that the Allies in Europe broke historic 
ground when they returned the cultural property seized by Napoleon to 
the Nations of origin. The committee will need to apply strict 
interpretation of its own legal principles as it weighs the rights of 
the possessor against the rights of the creator, a very important 
principle.
  The return of the Parthenon Marbles would raise no cause for concern 
for any other world museums, especially in the United States. 
Additionally, the Parthenon Marbles is unique, and their reunification 
would not create a precedent for other museums. Likewise, reunification 
of the Parthenon Marbles neither establishes a principle for American 
museums nor poses a threat to our own cultural heritage.
  From an ethical point of view, we can imagine the United States 
position if a foreign diplomat began carting away sculptures from the 
roof of the Lincoln Monument, which actually the Lincoln Monument was 
structured after the Parthenon, and they were now in a foreign museum.
  From an artistic and cultural point of view, we should consider that 
the sculptures were integral, structural parts of the architecture, 
dismembered and taken from the roof of the Parthenon temple. The 
Parthenon Marbles are not merely ``statutory,'' movable decorative art, 
but integral, interdependent parts of a temple. Over the centuries, the 
Parthenon has been a place of worship for three religions in addition 
to pre-Christian worship of Athena, goddess of wisdom, Orthodox 
Christian, Catholic, and Muslim.
  President Clinton's recent comments in Athens and to British Prime 
Minister Tony Blair have advanced the debate. Significantly, within 
days, Prince Charles announced his support for the return of the 
Marbles to its original place. This will promote a dialogue between the 
Greek and the British governments which may lead to the reunification 
of the Marbles to their original home on the Acropolis, hopefully in 
time to celebrate the 2004 Olympics, which as we know starts in Greece.
  Emblems of our culture, in fact, were adopted from the Parthenon and 
the democracy and culture it represents, including the Lincoln 
Memorial, the Supreme Court, and innumerable important public buildings 
and monuments. In the United States, the Committee on the Parthenon has 
served as a primary catalyst in building public awareness and 
government support.
  Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I urge that we support this and I have 
introduced legislation to move it forward.

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