[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 24, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2430-S2431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 53--AUTHORIZING A PLAQUE COMMEMORATING THE ROLE OF 
     ENSLAVED AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CAPITOL

  Mrs. LINCOLN (for herself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Chambliss, and Mr. 
Bennett) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Rules and Administration:

                               S. Res. 53

       Whereas enslaved African Americans provided labor essential 
     to the construction of the Capitol;
       Whereas enslaved African Americans performed the 
     backbreaking work of quarrying the stone which comprised many 
     of the floors, walls, and columns of the Capitol;
       Whereas enslaved African Americans toiled in the Aquia 
     Creek sandstone quarry in Stafford County, Virginia and in a 
     marble quarry in Montgomery County, Maryland to produce the 
     stone that would be used in the Capitol;
       Whereas the marble columns in the Old Senate Chamber and 
     the sandstone walls of the East Front corridor remain as the 
     lasting legacies of the enslaved African Americans who worked 
     the quarries;
       Whereas enslaved African Americans also participated in 
     other facets of construction of the Capitol, including 
     carpentry, masonry, carting, rafting, roofing, plastering, 
     glazing, painting, and sawing;
       Whereas enslaved African Americans labored on the Nation's 
     Capitol while they, themselves, were not free;
       Whereas the contributions of enslaved African Americans in 
     the construction of the Capitol have not been acknowledged 
     nor adequately represented in the Capitol;

[[Page S2431]]

       Whereas no narrative on the construction of the Capitol 
     that does not include the contributions of enslaved African 
     Americans can fully and accurately reflect the history of the 
     Capitol; and
       Whereas recognition of the contributions of enslaved 
     African Americans brings to all people of the United States 
     an understanding of the continuing evolution of democracy: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate authorizes and directs--
       (1) the Senate Commission on Art to procure an appropriate 
     plaque acknowledging the role of enslaved African Americans 
     in the construction of the Capitol; and
       (2) that, under the direction of the Committee on Rules and 
     Administration of the Senate, the plaque shall be placed near 
     the original exterior wall that was constructed between 1793 
     and 1800 in the East Front corridor on the third floor of the 
     Senate wing of the Capitol.

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