[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 198 (Tuesday, November 25, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1121-E1122]
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 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SEAL

                                  _____
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 25, 2025

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce of 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. Specifically, the bill would require the LOC to install a 
stained glass panel depicting the D.C. seal among the panels depicting 
the seals of all the states and territories that existed when the 
Thomas Jefferson Building was constructed. The seals of Hawaii and 
Alaska are

[[Page E1122]]

the only state seals 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 panels 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, depicts the D.C. seal with 
the depiction of state seals on its ceiling. This precedent reinforces 
D.C.'s request to be represented among the stained glass panels in the 
Main Reading Room, which is open to the public.
  Congress already includes D.C., or has corrected D.C.'s omission, 
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.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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