[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 36 (Thursday, February 25, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         INTRODUCTION OF THE ANDREW JACKSON STATUE REMOVAL ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 25, 2021

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to introduce the Andrew 
Jackson Statue Removal Act, which would remove the Andrew Jackson 
statue from Lafayette Park, a federal park in the District of Columbia, 
and require the Secretary of the Interior to donate the statue to a 
museum or a similar entity. This bill is part of a series of statue and 
memorial removal bills I am introducing during Black History Month.
  The land that comprises Lafayette Park has been used as a racetrack, 
a showplace for caged animals, a graveyard, a slave market, an 
encampment for soldiers and for political protests and celebrations. 
Jackson was a Tennessee slaveholder and signed a law that forced Native 
Americans to move west of the Mississippi River. During this forced 
expulsion by the federal government, roughly 4,000 Cherokee died in 
what is now known as the Trail of Tears.
  The statue, the first in Lafayette Park, was dedicated on January 8, 
1853, on the 38th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, which the 
statue depicts. This prominent location in the nation's capital, right 
outside of the White House, should never have honored a man who was an 
unabashed racist, owned slaves and authorized the genocide of Native 
Americans. Jackson's entire tenure is a shameful part of our history 
and should not be honored with a statue in Lafayette Park.
  This bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior to ensure the 
removal of the statue from Lafayette Park and to donate the statue and 
marble base to a museum or similar entity so that it can be accompanied 
by the appropriate historical context, not be prominently displayed in 
the nation's capital. The next generation can learn from this painful 
chapter in our history without celebrating it.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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