[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 16, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H5998-H6000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL LIBERTY MEMORIAL CLARIFICATION ACT OF 2015
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1949) to provide for the consideration and submission of
site and design proposals for the National Liberty Memorial approved
for establishment in the District of Columbia, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1949
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``National Liberty Memorial
Clarification Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE WITH CERTAIN STANDARDS FOR COMMEMORATIVE
WORKS IN ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL LIBERTY
MEMORIAL.
Section 2860(c) of the Military Construction Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (division B of Public Law 112-239;
40 U.S.C. 8903 note) is amended by striking the period at the
end and inserting the following: ``, except that, under
subsections (a)(2) and (b) of section 8905, the Secretary of
Agriculture, rather than the Secretary of the Interior or the
Administrator of General Services, shall be responsible for
the consideration of site and design proposals and the
submission of such proposals on behalf of the sponsor to the
Commission of Fine Arts and National Capital Planning
Commission.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. McClintock) and the
[[Page H5999]]
gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Dingell) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1949 would transfer the responsibilities regarding
the construction of the National Liberty Memorial that honors the
slaves and freemen of African descent who fought during the American
Revolution to the Secretary of Agriculture.
The proposed site for the memorial is on Department of Agriculture
land, so this change makes sense. Under current law, either the
Secretary of the Interior or the General Services Administrator would
otherwise be responsible.
As a cosponsor of this bill, which passed out of committee by
unanimous consent, I would urge my colleagues to vote favorably for its
passage.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, Public Law 112-239 authorized the establishment of a
fund to create the National Liberty Memorial, dedicated to the honor
and sacrifice of more than 5,000 enslaved and free Black people who
served as sailors, soldiers, or provided civilian assistance during the
Revolutionary War. This is a long overdue memorial, which recognizes
the early military role Black people played in securing our Nation's
freedom.
In June 2014, the General Services Administration identified a
location for the memorial at 14th and Independence Avenue, Southwest,
here in Washington, D.C. The approved site is on the grounds of the
Department of Agriculture campus.
In the interest of eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy through
overlapping jurisdiction, H.R. 1949 would make the Department of
Agriculture responsible for the consideration of the site and design
proposals, doing so on behalf of the Commission of Fine Arts and
National Capital Planning Commission. This responsibility would be
transferred from the GSA or the Department of the Interior, as it was
originally written.
I want to thank my good friend and colleague, the chairman of the
Congressional Black Caucus, Congressman Butterfield of North Carolina,
for his years of hard work and leadership in establishing the National
Liberty Memorial. We are all looking forward to seeing it open sometime
in the future, and it will be a fitting tribute to those who sacrificed
so much to create this great Nation of ours.
I ask all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1949, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I am ready to close when the gentlewoman
concludes, so I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield).
Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Dingell for
yielding time. I thank her for those kind words a moment ago and thank
her for her leadership here in the Congress.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 1949, the
National Liberty Memorial Clarification Act of 2015. I was joined by my
colleague, Congressman Tom McClintock from California, who serves as
chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal
Lands.
I am grateful for Chairman McClintock's early and sustained support
for this bill and appreciate his moving it expeditiously to the floor
for consideration.
The National Liberty Memorial, which I have long supported, seeks to
honor the more than 5,000 slaves and free persons of color or, as
historians sometimes refer to them, free Negroes who fought for
independence during the American Revolution.
The memorial will ultimately be constructed near the National Mall in
what is known as area one, pursuant to H.J. Res. 120, my resolution
that was signed into law by President Obama last year. The preferred
site location for the memorial is at the Department of Agriculture's
Whitten Building, where both the memorial's private sponsor and the
USDA want it to be ultimately constructed.
Under current law, governed by the Commemorative Works Act, the
Government Services Administration is charged with, among other things,
site and design proposals and their submission to the appropriate
memorial planning commissions.
However, because the preferred site is physically located on property
occupied by the Department of Agriculture, my bill will simply transfer
site and design responsibilities to the Secretary of Agriculture. The
memorial sponsor and the USDA both believe that the Secretary of
Agriculture is in the best position to expeditiously move this
important memorial project forward.
Doing so will allow the memorial sponsor and USDA to make progress on
a design and construction plan. This simple change, Mr. Speaker, will
eliminate duplication, better use scarce Federal resources, and avoid
unnecessary delay.
Seeing this important and culturally significant memorial to fruition
is of great importance to me. It is of great importance to the
Congressional Black Caucus. It is important, certainly, to the
constituents that I represent in North Carolina and descendants of the
brave Revolutionary War soldiers who sacrificed so much on behalf of
American independence.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to signal their support for H.R.
1949 simply by voting ``yes'' on final passage.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, the National Liberty Memorial reminds us
of a story of patriotism and sacrifice that won the independence of our
country and that set in motion what Lincoln called ``the last best hope
of mankind.'' It is a story from the American Revolution that, to this
day, has not been adequately acknowledged.
I am pleased to commend Mr. Butterfield for his legislation, to have
joined as a cosponsor of it, and to urge the House its speedy adoption.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1949, the
National Liberty Memorial Clarification Act of 2015, which will help
lay the final foundation for a National Liberty Memorial in Washington,
D.C.
Two-hundred and thirty-nine years ago our nation was inked into
existence by Thomas Jefferson in defense of a simple idea: that all men
were created equal, and are endowed with certain unalienable rights.
Countless men and women stood up for that idea around the new nation--
some volunteered to fight, but others served in their own way as
civilians. We know so many of those patriots' names by heart--George
Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Paul Jones, John Adams--and those
we do not are remembered in their hometowns all across America.
However, there are a number of patriots who are too often forgotten:
the thousands of slaves and freed men and women who fought for our
country and provided civilian assistance at our most vulnerable time.
These men and women believed so fully in the ideas and principles of
the American Revolution that they fought, died, and sacrificed even as
their own rights were trampled.
Their actions demonstrated patriotism in its absolute highest form.
But there is no monument to their sacrifice, no memorial for their
descendants to honor, and no place for our nation to offer their
collective thanks.
The National Liberty Memorial Clarification Act of 2015 will finally
pay the debt we owe to these brave patriots who helped breathe life
into our new nation. After some 230 years, it is the least we can do.
I would like to thank Mr. Butterfield and Mr. McClintock for offering
this important legislation. I would also like to thank my former
Judiciary staffer, Maurice Barboza, who has been fighting to honor the
sacrifices of slaves and freed persons for decades. Their work is a
credit to us all.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr.
[[Page H6000]]
McClintock) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R.
1949, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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