[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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