[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 191 (Thursday, December 8, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7079-S7080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DIRECTING THE JOINT COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS ON THE LIBRARY TO REMOVE THE 
  BUST OF ROGER BROOKE TANEY IN THE OLD SUPREME COURT CHAMBER OF THE 
 CAPITOL AND TO OBTAIN A BUST OF THURGOOD MARSHALL FOR INSTALLATION IN 
                 THE CAPITOL OR ON THE CAPITOL GROUNDS

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 5229, introduced earlier 
today by Senators Cardin and Van Hollen.

[[Page S7080]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 5229) to direct the Joint Committee of Congress 
     on the Library to remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in 
     the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol and to obtain a 
     bust of Thurgood Marshall for installation in the Capitol or 
     on the Capitol Grounds, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. CARDIN. I further ask that the bill be considered read three 
times and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made 
and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 5229) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                S. 5229

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. REPLACEMENT OF BUST OF ROGER BROOKE TANEY WITH 
                   BUST OF THURGOOD MARSHALL.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) While sitting in the Capitol, the Supreme Court issued 
     the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision on March 6, 
     1857. Written by Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, whose bust 
     sits inside the entrance to the Old Supreme Court Chamber in 
     the Capitol, this opinion declared that African Americans 
     were not citizens of the United States and could not sue in 
     Federal courts. This decision further declared that Congress 
     did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the 
     territories.
       (2) Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney's authorship of Dred 
     Scott v. Sandford, the effects of which would only be 
     overturned years later by the ratification of the 13th, 14th, 
     and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, 
     renders a bust of his likeness unsuitable for the honor of 
     display to the many visitors to the Capitol.
       (3) As Frederick Douglass said of this decision in May 
     1857, ``This infamous decision of the Slaveholding wing of 
     the Supreme Court maintains that slaves are within the 
     contemplation of the Constitution of the United States, 
     property; that slaves are property in the same sense that 
     horses, sheep, and swine are property; that the old doctrine 
     that slavery is a creature of local law is false; that the 
     right of the slaveholder to his slave does not depend upon 
     the local law, but is secured wherever the Constitution of 
     the United States extends; that Congress has no right to 
     prohibit slavery anywhere; that slavery may go in safety 
     anywhere under the star-spangled banner; that colored persons 
     of African descent have no rights that white men are bound to 
     respect; that colored men of African descent are not and 
     cannot be citizens of the United States.''.
       (4) While the removal of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney's 
     bust from the Capitol does not relieve the Congress of the 
     historical wrongs it committed to protect the institution of 
     slavery, it expresses Congress's recognition of one of the 
     most notorious wrongs to have ever taken place in one of its 
     rooms, that of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney's Dred Scott 
     v. Sandford decision.
       (b) Removal of Bust of Roger Brooke Taney.--Not later than 
     45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Joint 
     Committee of Congress on the Library (referred to in this Act 
     as the ``Joint Committee'') shall remove from public display 
     the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court 
     Chamber of the Capitol and the plinth upon which the bust is 
     placed. The bust and plinth shall remain in the custody of 
     the Senate Curator.
       (c) Bust of Thurgood Marshall.--
       (1) Obtaining bust.--Not later than 2 years after the date 
     of enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee shall enter 
     into an agreement to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall, 
     under such terms and conditions as the Joint Committee 
     considers appropriate and consistent with applicable law.
       (2) Placement.--
       (A) In general.--The Architect of the Capitol, under the 
     direction of the Joint Committee, shall permanently install 
     the bust obtained under paragraph (1) in a prominent location 
     in the Capitol or on the United States Capitol Grounds, as 
     described in section 5102 of title 40, United States Code.
       (B) Priority for location.--In determining the location for 
     the permanent installation of the bust obtained under 
     paragraph (1), the Joint Committee shall give priority to 
     identifying an appropriate location near the Old Supreme 
     Court Chamber of the Capitol.

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