[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 215 (Wednesday, January 3, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1268]
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

                       Wednesday, January 3, 2024

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce a bill that would require 
the Library of Congress (LOC) to install the District of Columbia seal 
in the Main Reading Room of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the LOC. 
The LOC provides not only D.C. residents but visitors and researchers 
from across the nation access to incomparable resources. The bill would 
require the LOC to depict D.C.'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 Thomas Jefferson Building was 
constructed are depicted. 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 argues for the inclusion of D.C., 
which, after all, was the nation's capital at the time. This omission 
was brought to my attention by a D.C. resident, Luis Landau, a former 
docent at the LOC.
  D.C. residents 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 LOC, was burned, prompting construction 
of the Thomas Jefferson Building. It is, therefore, without question 
that D.C. 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 D.C. seal should have been 
depicted. The Members of Congress room in the Thomas Jefferson 
Building, which is not open to the public, has a painted depiction of 
the D.C. seal included 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.
  Congress already includes D.C., or has corrected the omission of it, 
when honoring the states. For example, each state is entitled to two 
statues in the Capitol, and D.C. has two statues in the Capitol. The 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 requires the 
armed services to display the D.C. flag whenever the flags of the 
states are displayed. Legislation gave D.C. a coin after D.C. was 
omitted from legislation creating coins for the states. It is long 
overdue to display the D.C. seal with the seals of the states in the 
Main Reading Room of the Thomas Jefferson Building.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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