[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 13, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S14275]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           EMANCIPATION HALL

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today, as chairman of the 
Senate Rules and Administration Committee, to voice my support of 
legislation to name the great hall in the new Capitol Visitor Center 
``Emancipation Hall.''
  This legislation--S.1679--was introduced by Senator Mary Landrieu on 
June 21, 2007, and is cosponsored by Senator Barack Obama. I am proud 
to join them as a cosponsor.
  A companion bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives 
by Representatives Zach Wamp and Jesse Jackson. The measure has over 
225 cosponsors in the House and last week it was approved by the House 
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. It is my understanding 
that it will soon be taken up by the House, which earlier approved the 
proposal as part of the fiscal year 2008 legislative branch 
appropriations bill.
  I encourage my colleagues in the Senate to support this legislation.
  The naming of ``Emancipation Hall'' in the new Capitol Visitor Center 
would be a fitting tribute to the contributions of slaves in the 
construction of our Nation's Capitol Building. It would also serve to 
recognize the end of slavery in the United States.
  The Capitol Visitor Center is nearing completion, and its Great Hall 
promises to be a spectacular place--an estimated 3 million people are 
expected to gather in the area as they come to visit our great Capitol 
each year.
  And through large skylights in the ceiling, visitors will be able to 
look upwards and gaze upon the grand Capitol dome.
  This environment is the perfect place for visitors to reflect upon 
the construction of the U.S. Capitol, and to recognize the slaves who 
helped to build it.
  The total number of slaves who worked on the Capitol is unknown. But 
there is evidence that slave workers contributed in a number of 
important ways to its construction. This includes a slave named Philip 
Reid who played an important role in the casting of the 19-foot, 
15,000-pound bronze Statue of Freedom that rests atop the Capitol dome. 
Others are memorialized in pay stubs to their owners for work done in 
the Capitol.
  Naming the Great Hall of the Capitol Visitor Center as ``Emancipation 
Hall'' would serve to recognize both the brutal truth of our Nation's 
past and the importance of freedom as a pillar of modern America.
  The history of slavery in the United States is a grim chapter in our 
Nation's history. But the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by 
President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, was an important step 
toward abolishing slavery in the United States.
  In the Emancipation Proclamation, President Lincoln declared:

       I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves 
     within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and 
     henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government 
     of the United States, including the military and naval 
     authorities thereof; will recognize and maintain the freedom 
     of said persons.

  While the Emancipation Proclamation did not officially abolish 
slavery in all of the United States, it was an important commitment by 
the government to end this centuries-long injustice.
  By sustaining the history of this great act, we highlight the 
importance of freedom. And by naming the Capitol Visitor Center's main 
entry as ``Emancipation Hall,'' we do so in a significant way that all 
visitors of our Nation's Capitol Building will notice and respect.
  As chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and the 
Joint Committee on the Library, which oversees Capitol artwork, I 
believe it is very important to provide an accurate and diversified 
image of our Nation for the visitors to our Capitol. The naming of 
``Emancipation Hall'' would be one step toward achieving that.
  I also welcome a new report by the congressional Slave Labor Task 
Force, which has come forward with a number of recommendations for 
acknowledging and commemorating the work slaves performed in building 
our Capitol.
  I look forward to working with the task force on this issue so people 
throughout the world will know more about the contribution by slaves 
toward constructing the building that has become the very foundation of 
our democracy.

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