[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 126, 112th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
[NOTE: Feb. 15, 2012 -  [H.Con.Res.99] SLAVE LABOR MARKER CEREMONY--EMANCIPATION HALL AUTHORIZATION

Whereas enslaved African-Americans provided labor essential to the
construction of the United States Capitol;

Whereas in 2005 Congress created the Slave Labor Task Force to study the
role that enslaved African-Americans played in the construction of
the Capitol and to make recommendations to Congress on how to
commemorate their contribution;

Whereas the report of the Architect of the Capitol entitled ``History of
Slave Laborers in the Construction of the United States Capitol''
documents the role of slave labor in the construction of the
Capitol;

Whereas enslaved African-Americans performed the backbreaking work of
quarrying the stone which comprised many of the floors, walls, and
columns of the Capitol;

Whereas enslaved African-Americans also participated in other facets of
construction of the Capitol, including carpentry, masonry, carting,
rafting, roofing, plastering, glazing, painting, and sawing;

Whereas the marble columns in the Old Senate Chamber and the sandstone
walls of the East Front corridor remain as the lasting legacies of
the enslaved African-Americans who worked the quarries;

Whereas slave-quarried stones from the remnants of the original Capitol
walls can be found in Rock Creek Park in the District of Columbia;

Whereas the Statue of Freedom now atop the Capitol dome could not have
been cast without the pivotal intervention of Philip Reid, an
enslaved African-American foundry worker who deciphered the puzzle
of how to separate the 5-piece plaster model for casting when all
others failed;

Whereas the great hall of the Capitol Visitor Center was named
Emancipation Hall to help acknowledge the work of the slave laborers
who built the Capitol;

Whereas no narrative on the construction of the Capitol that does not
include the contribution of enslaved African-Americans can fully and
accurately reflect its history;

Whereas recognition of the contributions of enslaved African-Americans
brings to all Americans an understanding of the continuing evolution
of our representative democracy;


[[Page 2504]]
126 STAT. 2504

Whereas in 2007 the Slave Labor Task Force recommended to Congress the
creation of a marker commemorating the contributions of enslaved
African-Americans in the construction of the Capitol; and

Whereas the marker dedicated to the enslaved African-Americans who
helped to build the Capitol reflects the charge of the Capitol
Visitor Center to teach visitors about Congress and its development:
Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),



SECTION 1. USE OF EMANCIPATION HALL FOR CEREMONY TO UNVEIL MARKER
DEDICATED TO ENSLAVED AFRICAN-AMERICANS WHO HELPED BUILD THE
CAPITOL.

(a) Authorization.--Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center
is authorized to be used on February 28, 2012, for a ceremony to unveil
the marker which acknowledges the role that slave labor played in the
construction of the United States Capitol.
(b) Preparations.--Physical preparations for the conduct of the
ceremony described in subsection (a) shall be carried out in accordance
with such conditions as may be prescribed by the Architect of the
Capitol.

Agreed to February 15, 2012.