[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 179 (Thursday, December 10, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1762-E1763]
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, December 10, 2015

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce a bill to require the 
Library of Congress to install the District of Columbia seal in the 
Main Reading Room of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of 
Congress. The Library is one of the few buildings in the District that 
remains open to the public on most holidays. It provides not only D.C. 
residents but visitors and researchers from across the nation with 
access to incomparable resources. The bill requires the Library to 
depict the District's seal on the stained-glass windows in the Main 
Reading Room, where the seals of all the states and territories that 
existed when the building was constructed, except for the District, are 
depicted. D.C.'s seal was readily available at that time and should 
have been included. The seals of Hawaii and Alaska are not included in 
the display because 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 the inclusion of the District, which, after all, was in fact 
the nation's capital at the time. We are asking that omission of D.C. 
be corrected immediately. This omission was brought to my

[[Page E1763]]

attention by a District resident, Luis Landau, a former docent at the 
Library.
  The residents of the District have always had all the obligations of 
American citizenship, including paying federal taxes and serving 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 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 would be 
during the planned restoration.
  Congress already includes the District of Columbia, or has corrected 
the omission of the District, 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, the flag of the District 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 statues from the 50 states. The National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 requires the armed 
services to display the District 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. We 
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 across from 
Union Station. It is long overdue to display the D.C. seal, along with 
the seals of the states, in the Main Reading Room of the Library of 
Congress.
  I urge support of this legislation.

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