[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 33 (Thursday, February 27, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E266-E267]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   THE INTRODUCTION OF A BILL TO REQUIRE THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS TO 
INSTALL THE D.C. SEAL IN THE MAIN READING ROOM OF THE THOMAS JEFFERSON 
                                BUILDING

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 27, 2014

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce a bill to require the 
Library of Congress

[[Page E267]]

(LOC) to install the District of Columbia seal in the Main Reading Room 
of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the LOC. The bill calls on the 
Library of Congress to take the appropriate action to depict the seal 
of the District of Columbia on the stained-glass windows in the Main 
Reading Room, where the seals of the states are depicted. Currently, 
the stained-glass windows contain the seals of all states and 
territories that existed when the building was constructed, except for 
the seal of the District of Columbia, whose seal was readily available 
at the time and should have been depicted. This omission was brought to 
my attention by a District resident, Luis Landau, a former docent at 
the Library. We are asking that this omission be corrected at the 
earliest time. In addition to the omission of the District of Columbia, 
the only currently unrepresented states from the stained-glass display 
are Hawaii and Alaska, but they were not states or territories when the 
building was constructed. The fact that these two states were not part 
of the Union at the time of the creation of the stained-glass windows 
argues for a depiction of the District seal as well, which, after all, 
was in fact the nation's capital at the time.
  The residents of the District of Columbia have always had all the 
obligations of American citizenship, including paying federal taxes and 
service in all the nation's wars, including the War of 1812, during 
which the Capitol building, which then housed the Library of Congress, 
was burned, prompting construction of the current Library of Congress 
building with the state and territory seals. It is, therefore, without 
question that the District and its residents should receive equal 
treatment among the stained-glass windows that portray the history of 
the United States. D.C. residents deserve to have their history and 
American citizenship recognized.
  There is existing evidence that the seal of the District of Columbia 
should have been depicted. The Members of Congress room in the 
Jefferson Building, which is not open to the public, has a painted 
depiction of the D.C. seal, along with state seals, on its ceiling. 
This precedent reinforces our request to be represented among the 
stained-glass windows in the Main Reading Room, which is open to the 
public. There is no reason why the D.C. seal cannot be added with the 
planned restoration of the stained-glass. The right time to add the 
seal of the District of Columbia, whose residents pay full taxes and 
have served in all the nation's wars, like the residents of the 50 
states, would be during the planned restoration.
  Congress already automatically includes the District of Columbia and 
its residents, or has corrected the omission of the District of 
Columbia, when honoring the states. For example, the District of 
Columbia War Memorial honors District residents who served in World War 
I, the World War II Memorial includes a column representing the 
District of Columbia, the flag of the District of Columbia is displayed 
among the flags of the fifty states in the tunnel connecting the House 
office buildings to the Capitol, and D.C.'s Frederick Douglass statue 
now sits in the Capitol alongside the statues from the 50 states. In 
January of last year, the President signed into law the National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, which contains language 
requiring the armed services to display the District of Columbia flag 
whenever the flags of the states are displayed. Legislation was also 
enacted to give D.C. a coin after it was omitted from legislation 
creating coins for the 50 states. I also successfully worked with the 
U.S. Postal Service to create a D.C. stamp, like the stamps for the 50 
states, and worked with the National Park Service to add the D.C. flag 
alongside the state flags. Inclusion of the D.C. seal, along with the 
seals of the states, is the next step.
  I urge support of this legislation.

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