[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 158 (Thursday, October 18, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13133-S13134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          EXTENDING THE TIME TO OBTAIN A STATUE OF ROSA PARKS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to immediate consideration of S. 2206, introduced earlier 
today.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the bill by 
title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2206) to provide technical corrections to Public 
     Law 109-116 (2 U.S.C. 2131a note) to extend the time period 
     for the Joint Committee on the Library to enter into an 
     agreement to obtain a statue of Rosa Parks, and for other 
     purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, Rosa Parks has been described as the 
``Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement.''
  Her actions on a Montgomery bus in 1955 sparked one of the Nation's 
largest movements against racial segregation: the Montgomery Bus 
Boycott.
  Due to those brave actions, Rosa Parks became an icon of civil 
disobedience.
  In 2005, Congress voted to preserve the legacy of Rosa Parks by 
authorizing a statue of her to be placed in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary 
Hall.
  A statue of Rosa Parks would be a fitting tribute to the struggle for 
equal rights for all Americans.
  But two years later, the statue has not been obtained. It is time to 
remove the hurdles, and ensure that Rosa Parks is honored as Congress 
intended.
  The law designated Congress's Joint Committee on the Library to 
obtain the statue. But it was later determined that the Joint Committee 
does not have the technical ability or resources to enter into 
contracts or pay for the statue.
  And now that law is set to expire on December 1, 2007, without ever 
achieving its intended goal.
  So, to correct the problems in the original law, I have introduced a 
stand alone bill that would: designate the Architect of the Capitol as 
the agent of the Joint Committee; and extend the deadline by 2 more 
years.
  This legislation would allow for the Architect of the Capitol to 
distribute funds on behalf of the Joint Committee on the Library.
  This legislation has been cosponsored by seven other Senators, 
including: Senators Bennett, Kerry, Durbin, Levin, Schumer, Dodd, and 
Stabenow. 
  It is so important that we honor this great American.
  Mrs. Parks' actions on a single day in December 1955 changed the 
lives of so many who followed her.
  Let me tell you a little more about Rosa Parks:
  Mrs. Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley, February 4, 1913, in 
Tuskegee, AL. Her parents were a carpenter and a teacher.
  Rosa Parks grew up and lived in a segregated South. And when she 
married, she and her husband became active in the local NAACP chapter.
  On December 1, 1955, after a day of work at a department store in 
downtown Montgomery, AL, Rosa Parks boarded a bus to go home. She paid 
her fare, and took an empty seat in the first row of seats reserved for 
Blacks.
  As the bus traveled along its route, all of the White-only seats in 
the bus filled up. When the bus reached its next stop, several White 
passengers boarded.
  As was standard practice at that time, the busdriver told the Black 
passengers seated in the rows behind the White-only section to move. 
This included Mrs. Parks and three other passengers.
  The three other Black passengers moved at the bus driver's 
insistence. But Mrs. Parks did not.
  As she recalled in her autobiography, she was simply ``tired of 
giving in'':

       People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I 
     was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, 
     or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working 
     day.
       I was not old, although some people have an image of me as 
     being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, 
     was tired of giving in.

  This action of civil disobedience sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 
which became one of the Nation's largest movements against racial 
segregation.
  Rosa Parks was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 
1996. She received a Congressional Gold Medal in 1999. And in 2005, 
Congress voted to honor her with a statue in the U.S. Capitol. The 
Architect of the Capitol is prepared to work with the National 
Endowment for the Arts to find suitable artists and statues to be 
considered for this honor. But until the funds for this project can be 
allocated, the search for a statue will not move forward. The 
legislation introduced today would fix this problem and allow the funds 
to be released. But more importantly, this legislation would ensure 
that Rosa Parks an American hero is honored as she so deserves.
  Mr. DURBIN. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three 
times, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, and any 
statement be printed in the Record.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The bill (S. 2206) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                S. 2206

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

[[Page S13134]]

     SECTION 1. ROSA PARKS STATUE.

       (a) In General.--Section 1(a) of Public Law 109-116 (2 
     U.S.C. 2131a note) is amended by--
       (1) striking ``2 years'' and inserting ``4 years''; and
       (2) adding at the end the following: ``The Joint Committee 
     may authorize the Architect of the Capitol to enter into the 
     agreement and related contracts required under this 
     subsection on its behalf, under such terms and conditions as 
     the Joint Committee may require.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect as if included in the enactment of Public 
     Law 109-116.

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