[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 170 (Monday, November 5, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H12478-H12480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         PROVIDING TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO PUBLIC LAW 109-116

  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the Senate 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.

[[Page H12479]]

  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The text of the Senate bill is as follows:

                                S. 2206

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

     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.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Brady) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
in the Record and include extraneous matter.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill will provide technical corrections to Public 
Law 109-116 to extend the time period for the Joint Committee on the 
Library to obtain a statue honoring Rosa Parks, and for other purposes.
  In November of 2005, this House passed Public Law 109-116, then H.R. 
4145, which provided for the placement of a statue of Rosa Parks in the 
National Statuary Hall. Due to technical drafting errors, we failed to 
provide the Architect of the Capitol with the resources necessary to 
acquire such a statue.
  The original bill set a deadline of December 1, 2007, for acquisition 
of the statue, and S. 2206 would extend the deadline for 2 years. 
Further, the bill authorizes the Architect of the Capitol to enter into 
any agreement or contract necessary to have the statue rendered.
  It is imperative that we honor the memory of Rosa Parks in Statuary 
Hall as soon as possible. The House is in agreement today, as it was 2 
years ago, that this is long overdue. Her contributions to the civil 
rights movement and to the historical record of this country deserve to 
be reflected in Statuary Hall.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1600

  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2206, which will 
extend the time period for the Joint Committee on the Library to enter 
into an agreement to obtain a statue of Rosa Parks.
  A tireless advocate for equality, Rosa Parks is best remembered for a 
single act of civil disobedience that would change the history of our 
Nation. By refusing to move to the back of the bus in her native 
Alabama, to make room for white passengers, Mrs. Parks ignited passions 
on both sides of the civil rights movement. This led to the Montgomery 
bus boycott and helped to elevate the work of another great American of 
the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as an 
august Member of this body, Congressman John Lewis, who also 
participated and played a leading role in some of the demonstrations of 
that time.
  Even in her passing, Rosa Parks was a trailblazer as the first woman 
and only the second African American to lie in state in the Capitol 
rotunda.
  I am especially pleased to speak on her behalf since she decided to 
take up residence in Michigan for the remainder of her life after she 
had gone through various demonstrations and activities surrounding her 
initial act of defiance. She was a distinguished citizen of our State, 
and in fact we recently dedicated a new park in downtown Grand Rapids 
in her honor. It is named the Rosa Parks Park.
  By extending the time period to procure a statue of Mrs. Parks, this 
bill will allow the Joint Committee on the Library to delegate the 
administration of the statue selection process to the Architect of the 
Capitol. The JCL was not designed for, nor is it equipped, to run an 
arts competition. Allowing the Architect of the Capitol to administer 
the competition process will ensure that the statue selected is a 
fitting tribute to this marvelous civil rights pioneer.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson) for such time as he may consume.
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2206, a 
bill that simply provides technical corrections to Public Law 109-116.
  This legislation authorizes the Architect of the Capitol to enter 
into agreement on behalf of the Joint Committee of the Library to 
acquire a statue of Mrs. Rosa Parks. It also extends the time period 
for that agreement by 2 years.
  In 2005, it was my privilege to introduce this very important 
legislation with Senator John Kerry and Senator Mitch McConnell of the 
other body to honor the life and work of the late Mrs. Rosa Parks by 
placing a statue in National Statuary Hall.
  Everyone knows the story of how Mrs. Parks helped spark the modern 
civil rights movement when she refused to give up her seat on a legally 
segregated bus that fateful day, December 1, 1955, leading to the 
Montgomery bus boycott and the emergence of Martin Luther King, Jr.
  From the beginning, Mrs. Parks led a life dedicated to social change, 
becoming an active member of the Montgomery, Alabama, chapter of the 
NAACP, which in the 1940s and 1950s was considered a dangerous 
organization. It could cost you your job. It could even cost you your 
life.
  In 1943, along with the State president of the NAACP, she mobilized a 
historic voter registration drive in Montgomery and was later elected 
NAACP chapter secretary. Mrs. Parks was a courageous woman who 
possessed the firm and quiet strength necessary to challenge injustice.
  Following the 1954 Brown Supreme Court decision which provided equal 
protection under the law's legal framework, her refusal to give up her 
seat eventually led to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting 
Rights Act, the 1968 Open Housing Act, all of which helped make America 
better for all Americans.
  Rosa Parks remained a committed activist until the end of her life. 
In the 1980s, she worked in support of the South Africa anti-apartheid 
movement. In Detroit with Congressman John Conyers in 1997, she founded 
the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development, a career 
counseling center for African American youth.
  With dignity, with grace and with courage, Rosa Parks inspired 
generations and helped to make the world a more just and compassionate 
place. In life she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996 
and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999, the highest honors our Nation 
bestows on civilians.
  This placing of a Rosa Parks statue in National Statuary Hall is a 
testament to the fact that the long arc of history bends towards 
freedom and justice and equality. When Statuary Hall was created by law 
in 1864, African Americans could not be citizens of the United States. 
Indeed, the term ``African Americans'' did not exist. Under that law it 
was impossible for us to be considered favorite sons or favorite 
daughters of States.
  When Rosa Parks takes her place in National Statuary Hall, she takes 
with her Frederick Douglass. She takes with her the United States 
coloreds troops. She takes with her Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. 
She takes them there. Indeed, she takes the legacy and history of 
redefining what it means to be an American for all Americans as she 
takes her place among the enormous statues that presently represent the 
various States within that great Hall.
  She takes with her countless nameless people of African descent, who 
from slavery to today, sacrificed for an America many would never live 
to see.
  As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose half statue is not in Statuary

[[Page H12480]]

Hall, would implore us, Now is the time.
  I want to thank Senator Feinstein for introducing this bill in the 
other body. I want to thank Matt McGowan and Khalil Abboud from the 
Joint Committee on the Library for diligently working to get this 
extension enacted into law. I want to thank Barbara Wolanin from the 
Architect of the Capitol's Office for working with all of us to make 
sure that the goals of my original bill are realized.
  I want to thank Chairman Brady and Ranking Member Ehlers for their 
sensitivity on this critical issue at this critical hour. And I want to 
thank in a special way our late Chair, Juanita Millender-McDonald, who 
worked with me tirelessly on this effort.
  In fact, Mr. Speaker, I might add that in the 13 years I have had the 
privilege of serving in this body, I have only missed two votes: one 
vote because my pager died and the battery did not forward my pager the 
power to let me know to vote; and the other vote was when I was on the 
other side of the aisle so overwhelmed by the number of Republicans who 
were willing to sign onto a Rosa Parks statue in Statuary Hall that the 
Democratic clerks could not find me to tell me to vote. I was 
overwhelmed by that occasion.
  I am hoping, Mr. Speaker, that today Members of Congress will once 
again vote ``aye'' on S. 2206. I know of no American more worthy of an 
honor than the late Mrs. Rosa Parks.
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers, but I would like 
to close with a few additional comments.
  First of all, I admire my colleague's voting record. It is a rare 
person who misses only two votes during 13 years.
  But above all, I want to comment on a few things relating to Rosa 
Parks. First, what impresses me is how much one person who is 
determined to fight for what is right can accomplish. She was a 
marvelous person and stuck to her guns in tough situations, and she 
carried the day and inspired a lot of other people to carry the day.
  The other factor is, as I look around the world today, and the United 
States especially, and compare that to the world before Rosa Parks, 
what a mammoth change we have undergone. But also as I look around, I 
still remember how much further we have to go. And let us always work 
in the spirit of Rosa Parks to destroy discrimination of all sorts and 
make certain that every American and in fact every citizen of this 
planet enjoys the freedom that we enjoy.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I would again like to thank 
the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson) for his participation and for 
his voting record also. And I thank my friend from Michigan, the 
ranking member, for all he has done. We have a great working 
relationship, and I thank him for continuing that relationship.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brady) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 2206.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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