[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 33 (Friday, February 22, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E194-E195]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 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

                       Friday, February 22, 2019

  Ms. NORTON. Madam 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

[[Page E195]]

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 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 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 of this legislation.

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