[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 184 (Monday, November 18, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6624-S6625]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-157. A resolution adopted by the House of 
     Representatives of the State of Michigan urging the United 
     States Congress to support federal funding for ports, 
     harbors, and critical marine infrastructure in the Great 
     Lakes region including the Soo Locks construction project; to 
     the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

                        House Resolution No. 160

       Whereas, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system is the 
     longest deep-draft waterway in the world spanning from 
     Duluth, Minnesota to the Atlantic Ocean. This commercial 
     waterway provides cost-effective and reliable transportation 
     for cargo, including iron ore, coal, steel, machinery, 
     cement, and petroleum products that are staples in everyday 
     life--whether that be for road improvements or the energy 
     powering our cities; and
       Whereas, the economic importance of the Great Lakes-St. 
     Lawrence Seaway system cannot be overstated. Commerce along 
     the seaway supported over 200,000 jobs and generated over $35 
     billion in economic activity in 2017 alone. Maintaining the 
     ports, harbors, and critical infrastructure of the seaway is 
     necessary to protect American industry and jobs; and
       Whereas, maintaining and updating the Soo Locks in Sault 
     Ste. Marie, Michigan is of utmost importance, not only to the 
     residents of Michigan but to all Americans. Nearly 80 percent 
     of domestic iron ore--the primary material used to 
     manufacture steel critical to the auto industry and 
     construction--travels from mines in Minnesota and Michigan's 
     Upper Peninsula through the Soo Locks; and
       Whereas, even a six-month unplanned closure at the Soo 
     Locks would devastate steel, automobile, and other heavy 
     equipment production throughout North America, decreasing 
     U.S. gross domestic production by $1.3 trillion and costing 
     more than 11 million jobs. The effect would ripple across 
     national supply chains and eventually lead to a full shut 
     down of steel production in Pennsylvania; and
       Whereas, Congress has appropriated an initial $32 million 
     to begin construction at the Soo Locks; however, the $1 
     billion project will require continued appropriation from 
     Congress through the completion of the project. The economic 
     risk of a Soo Locks closure is too great to delay funding for 
     even one year; now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge 
     Congress and the President to support federal funding for 
     ports, harbors, and critical marine infrastructure in the 
     Great Lakes region including the Soo Locks reconstruction 
     project; and be it further
       Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to 
     the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 
     United States House of Representatives, and the members of 
     the Michigan congressional delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-158. A bill adopted by the Legislature of the State of 
     Florida requesting the Joint Committee on the Library of 
     Congress to approve the replacement of the statute of 
     Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith in the National 
     Statuary Hall Collection with a statue of Mary McLeod 
     Bethune; to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

                          Senate Bill No. 472

       Whereas, in March 2016, the Florida Legislature passed, and 
     the Governor signed into law, Senate Bill 310, authorizing 
     the replacement of the statue of Confederate General Edmund 
     Kirby Smith in the National Statuary Hall Collection with a 
     statue of a prominent Florida citizen recommended by the ad 
     hoc committee of the Great Floridians Program within the 
     Division of Historical Resources of the Department of State, 
     and
       Whereas, one of the three prominent Florida citizens 
     recommended by the ad hoc committee is Mary McLeod Bethune, 
     and
       Whereas, Mary McLeod Bethune was born on July 10, 1875, in 
     Mayesville, South Carolina, and she was the first member of 
     her family, including all of her 16 siblings, born free 
     following the conclusion of the Civil War, and
       Whereas, beginning at a young age, Mary McLeod Bethune 
     became engaged with learning and teaching after receiving an 
     opportunity to attend Trinity Presbyterian Mission School in 
     her hometown, and her dedication was evidenced through 
     attending as many classes as she could and teaching her 
     parents and siblings what she had learned, and
       Whereas, Mary McLeod Bethune was awarded a scholarship 
     allowing her to enroll at the then-Scotia Seminary for Girls 
     in Concord, North Carolina, from which she graduated in 1893, 
     and she went on to continue her studies at the Moody Bible 
     Institute in Chicago, and
       Whereas, upon graduating from the Moody Bible Institute, 
     Mary McLeod Bethune became a teacher and taught at schools in

[[Page S6625]]

     Georgia and South Carolina before moving to Florida to teach 
     at the Palatka Mission School, and
       Whereas, through observing the burgeoning black population 
     in the area prompted by labor needed for railroad 
     construction, Mary McLeod Bethune decided to follow through 
     with her dream of opening her own school, and
       Whereas, Mary McLeod Bethune bought a small cottage in 
     Daytona Beach to allow for the opening of the Daytona 
     Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in 
     1904 and through her commitment to fundraising, the school's 
     enrollment grew from 5 to 250 students in just 2 years, and
       Whereas, the school continued to grow, which eventually 
     resulted in its merger with the Cookman Institute for Men in 
     Jacksonville to form Bethune-Cookman College, where she later 
     served as president, and
       Whereas, Mary McLeod Bethune's advocacy continued with her 
     founding of the National Council of Negro Women and her 
     appointment as Director of the Division of Negro Affairs of 
     the National Youth Administration by President Franklin 
     Delano Roosevelt, and
       Whereas, through her position as the highest ranking 
     African-American woman in the Federal Government, Mary McLeod 
     Bethune was able to assist African-American youth in finding 
     employment and worked with the Women's Army Corps during 
     World War II to recruit African-American female officers, and
       Whereas, upon her death in 1955, Mary McLeod Bethune's 
     inspirational leadership was praised by many, including 
     former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who lauded ``her wisdom 
     and her goodness,'' and
       Whereas, in 1995, the United States National Park Service 
     established the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National 
     Historic Site in Washington, D.C., which has preserved the 
     townhouse that was once her personal residence and the first 
     headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women, and
       Whereas, Mary McLeod Bethune's legacy continues to be felt 
     in Florida through the continued success of Bethune-Cookman 
     University, whose enrollment is currently approaching a 
     record high of 4,000 students, and
       Whereas, it is appropriate to honor Mary McLeod Bethune as 
     one of two Floridians memorialized in statues in the National 
     Statuary Hall Collection given her significant and continuing 
     impact on this state, Now, therefore, be it
       Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
       Section 1. The Legislature of the State of Florida hereby 
     respectfully requests the Joint Committee on the Library of 
     Congress to approve the replacement of the statue of 
     Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith in the National 
     Statuary Hall Collection with a statue of Mary McLeod 
     Bethune. Contingent upon such approval by the Joint Committee 
     on the Library of Congress. ownership of the statue of 
     General Edmund Kirby Smith shall transfer to the state in 
     accordance with 2 U.S.C. S. 2132(d). The Division of Cultural 
     Affairs of the Department of State shall take possession of 
     the returned statue. and make the statue available for public 
     display.
       Section 2. This act shall serve as an official request to 
     the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress pursuant to 2 
     U.S.C. S. 2132.
       Section 3. On the effective date of this act, the 
     Department of State shall deliver a copy of this act to the 
     President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 
     United States House of Representatives, the Joint Committee 
     on the Library of Congress, and to each member of the Florida 
     delegation to the United States Congress.
       Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.
                                  ____

       POM-159. A petition from a citizen of the State of Texas 
     relative to impeachment protocols; to the Committee on Rules 
     and Administration.

                          ____________________