[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 33 (Friday, February 24, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E228-E229]
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

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 24, 2017

  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 concurrently with the renovation and replacement of the 
existing glass panels. The House Transportation and Infrastructure 
Committee passed this bill unanimously last 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 the omission of D.C. be corrected 
immediately. This omission was brought to my 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, 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

[[Page E229]]

World War II Memorial includes a column representing the District, 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 for this legislation.

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