[House Hearing, 110 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
EMANCIPATION HALL: A TRIBUTE TO THE SLAVES WHO HELPED BUILD THE U.S.
CAPITOL
=======================================================================
(110-71)
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
SEPTEMBER 25, 2007
__________
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COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
JAMES L. OBERSTAR, Minnesota, Chairman
NICK J. RAHALL, II, West Virginia, JOHN L. MICA, Florida
Vice Chair DON YOUNG, Alaska
PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon THOMAS E. PETRI, Wisconsin
JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of JOHN J. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee
Columbia WAYNE T. GILCHREST, Maryland
JERROLD NADLER, New York VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan
CORRINE BROWN, Florida STEVEN C. LaTOURETTE, Ohio
BOB FILNER, California RICHARD H. BAKER, Louisiana
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas FRANK A. LoBIONDO, New Jersey
GENE TAYLOR, Mississippi JERRY MORAN, Kansas
ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland GARY G. MILLER, California
ELLEN O. TAUSCHER, California ROBIN HAYES, North Carolina
LEONARD L. BOSWELL, Iowa HENRY E. BROWN, Jr., South
TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania Carolina
BRIAN BAIRD, Washington TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, Illinois
RICK LARSEN, Washington TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania
MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts SAM GRAVES, Missouri
JULIA CARSON, Indiana BILL SHUSTER, Pennsylvania
TIMOTHY H. BISHOP, New York JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, Maine SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West
BRIAN HIGGINS, New York Virginia
RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri JIM GERLACH, Pennsylvania
JOHN T. SALAZAR, Colorado MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida
GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California CHARLES W. DENT, Pennsylvania
DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois TED POE, Texas
DORIS O. MATSUI, California DAVID G. REICHERT, Washington
NICK LAMPSON, Texas CONNIE MACK, Florida
ZACHARY T. SPACE, Ohio JOHN R. `RANDY' KUHL, Jr., New
MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii York
BRUCE L. BRALEY, Iowa LYNN A WESTMORELAND, Georgia
JASON ALTMIRE, Pennsylvania CHARLES W. BOUSTANY, Jr.,
TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota Louisiana
HEATH SHULER, North Carolina JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio
MICHAEL A. ACURI, New York CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan
HARRY E. MITCHELL, Arizona THELMA D. DRAKE, Virginia
CHRISTOPHER P. CARNEY, Pennsylvania MARY FALLIN, Oklahoma
JOHN J. HALL, New York VERN BUCHANAN, Florida
STEVE KAGEN, Wisconsin
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
JERRY McNERNEY, California
LAURA A. RICHARDSON, California
(ii)
?
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency
Management
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of Columbia, Chairwoman
MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, Maine SAM GRAVES, Missouri
JASON ALTMIRE, Pennsylvania BILL SHUSTER, Pennsylvania
MICHAEL A. ARCURI, New York SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West
CHRISTOPHER P. CARNEY, Virginia
Pennsylvania, Vice Chair CHARLES W. DENT, Pennsylvania
TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota JOHN R. `RANDY' KUHL, Jr., New
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee York
JAMES L. OBERSTAR, Minnesota JOHN L. MICA, Florida
(Ex Officio) (Ex Officio)
(iii)
CONTENTS
Page
Summary of Subject Matter........................................ vi
TESTIMONY
Wamp, Hon. Zach, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Tennessee...................................................... 7
Jackson, Jr., Hon. Jesse, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Illinois.............................................. 7
PREPARED STATEMENT SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Cohen, Hon. Steve, of Tennessee.................................. 16
Jackson, Jr., Hon. Jesse L., of Illinois......................... 17
Norton, Hon. Eleanor Holmes, of the District of Columbia......... 19
Wamp, Hon. Zach, of Tennessee.................................... 21
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T8171.001
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T8171.002
EMANCIPATION HALL: A TRIBUTE TO THE SLAVES WHO HELPED BUILD THE U.S.
CAPITOL
----------
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
House of Representatives,
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and
Emergency Management,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:05 p.m., in
Room 2253, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Eleanor Holmes
Norton [Chairman of the Subcommittee] Presiding.
Ms. Norton. I am very pleased to welcome to today's hearing
Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Congressman Zach Wamp, who
are key sponsors of the resolution to name the Great Hall,
located at the Capitol Convention Center, "Emancipation Hall."
The U.S. Capitol and its iconic dome are symbols of
representative democracy in our country. As the United States
has grown and changed over its 225-year history, so has the
Capitol. The Capitol Building or the, quote, "temple of
liberty," as it was known early on, ironically was built, in
large part, by, quote, "Negro hires," a term used to indicate
that the enslaved blacks who helped build the Capitol were
hired out, not hired. More accurately, they were leased or
contracted out by their owners to do the work, essentially a
contract between the Congress of the United States and
slaveholders, with all of the funds going directly to the
pockets of the slave owners.
The slaves who helped to build the Capitol came not only
from Southern States like Maryland and Virginia; some were
property of residents of the Nation's capital, itself, where
slaves lived and worked until Congress abolished slavery in the
District in 1863, only 9 months before the Emancipation
Proclamation. Slaves here and in the rest of the United States
often were skilled craftsmen who were profitable not only to
the slave owners' households but also for the skills they could
bring to others as Negro hires.
One of the many ironies of slavery is that, when
emancipation finally arrived, slaves throughout the United
States had the entire skillset for any project in our country.
They were an indigenous workforce, ready and anxious to work.
Ubiquitous discrimination across the country, however, confined
blacks to joblessness unless no whites, including newly arrived
immigrants, were available. A bitter freedom for slaves who
wanted nothing more than their freedom and the ability to work
became a national tragedy.
A major hall in the new Capitol Building 200 years later
provides but a token of the respect and gratitude these slave
laborers never received. Today, little remains on Capitol Hill
that bears the imprint of slave labor. Much of the carpentry
work, including the mahogany pine and walnut doors, has been
lost to fires, rebuilding and remolding. History wiped away the
work of these slaves without so much as a marker to indicate
their contributions. The history of the slave contributions has
been suppressed even in official histories of the Capitol until
recent years.
We are grateful to the bipartisan taskforce, where
Representative John Lewis, among others, served as a member,
that was established several years ago in anticipation of the
recognition of the contributions of slave labor, as envisioned
by House Congressional Resolution 130.
In 1998, following the shooting death of Capitol Police
officers, the first in the Nation's history, I introduced H.R.
4347, the Jacob Joseph Chestnut-John Michael Gibson United
States Capitol Visitor Center Act of 1998. The bill provided
for enhanced security on the Capitol grounds and for an
appropriate place to welcome our constituents, taking into
account their security, health and comfort.
Nine years later, I had the pleasure of touring the
graceful new addition to the Capitol, the Capitol Visitor
Center. About 97 percent completed, finishing touches are in
progress, such as the installation of bronze framework around
the doors and carpet installation, of cafeteria countertops and
millwork, plaster and paint, along with a bronze handrail being
applied to the three-level spiral staircase that will welcome
visitors in elegant style to this outstanding facility. The
facility contains so much history and so many new amenities
that it is nothing less than a new, premiere tourist
destination that we in the District of Columbia particularly
welcome.
The Congress and the Nation depend on this city to be
welcoming to the constituents of Members of the House and
Senate and to visitors from around the world. The District is,
indeed, one of America's preeminent tourist destinations, and
consequently, there is a perfect synergy between what Congress
and the District of Columbia want for tourists who come to the
city to visit historic sites.
City officials and I are working closely with Capitol
officials on facilitating getting millions of new visitors,
beyond the 3 million we already get, to this new venue that
offers a modern setting in which to view the history of
Congress and our contributions as a body to our country.
Included in this landmark will be an exhibition gallery, a 550-
seat cafeteria, gift shops and visitor orientation theaters.
At nearly 580,000 square feet, this project is the largest
in the Capitol's 212-year history. No longer will visitors
stand in long lines and arrive at the beginning of their
Capitol tour tired, hungry and often with little knowledge of
what they are about to see. Not only will the new center
provide greater security, it will afford visitors an enjoyable
and educational experience that would be incomplete if the
untold story of the building of the Capitol were to remain
untold.
Naming the Great Hall for the long, unrecognized
contributions of slaves who built our Capitol will, in some
very small way, honor the importance of their contributions to
their country and our determination to continue to erase the
conditions that derive from that period in our history.
I am pleased to recognize the Ranking Member for any
statement he may have.
Mr. Graves. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I am, actually, going to yield to the Ranking Member of the
Full Committee for his statement, particularly in the essence
of time.
Mr. Mica. Well, thank you. Thank you both, Mr. Graves and
Ms. Norton, and thank you for conducting this hearing.
As I have said to Ms. Norton and Mr. Graves in the past, I
think it is important that our Committee assume jurisdiction
and responsibility, which we have always had over this project.
And I want to take a few minutes to talk about the proposal
before us today, naming the Great Hall.
Let me reminisce a bit. Back in the 1980s, I was the Chief
of Staff and spent a lot of time studying the history for 5
years of the Capitol Building, and I learned a lot about its
history. When I came as a Member in January of 1993--and even
back then, as many of you and, I think, as the Chairlady
referred to it in her opening statements, we all saw the lines
in heat, rain, snow, sleet, that millions of our--I call them
the "owners." When they showed up, they did not get very good
treatment. They got left out in the cold, so to speak.
And then I learned a little bit about former proposals.
When they extended the east front out, they talked about either
putting a visitors' center in or a parking garage for better
convenience. Ironically, actually, when a visitors' center was
proposed, it was shot down by Republicans, I think led by Newt
Gingrich, who, at the time, were running huge deficits and did
not want all public money to go into financing a project.
So I came on the scene in 1993, and one of the things I
remember as a Member and being someone who loved history is I
went over to the Library of Congress, and we have a great
entre. In those days, you could actually go back in the
stacks--that has been limited now--and you could see the
incredible treasures that we have firsthand and actually take
some of the books. And they have far more than books. I
remember the maps, their map section. They had the contents of
Lincoln's pockets when he was assassinated over there. There is
just an incredible wealth of treasures that the average citizen
never gets to see, nor did we have any exhibition space to show
those things.
I went down to the National Archives, and I remember seeing
the Emancipation Proclamation, which was kind of interesting,
and they told me it is very rarely shown because rare documents
like that are only taken out and put in the most protected area
because they are rare, rare, rare national treasures and
historic treasures. I thought, what a shame that, first, for
the people who this is all done for by their government, they
do not get a chance to see it, and then the great treasures, we
are the keeper of, and they do not get to see. Again, I
remember specifically the Emancipation Proclamation.
So, when I started looking at my legislative priorities,
the first one was to build a visitors' center, and I did not
get a very good reception. We were in the minority in the
beginning. Finally, we took over, and I introduced several
measures. And actually, they were considered in two hearings. I
think one was in 1995, right after we took control, and in
1998. I still had the stumbling block of Newt Gingrich and
public funding. We were starting to get the budget in balance,
and the deal that we cut with Newt Gingrich to make the
visitors' center go forward was to raise half the money
privately and half publicly.
At that time, the visitors' center--well, originally, it
was $78 million, and then when George White put in the proposal
and went back and looked at it and did some juggling, he came
in slightly over $100 million, I remember. I said, "George," I
said, "I cannot go to the Public Works-Transportation Committee
meeting and promote a project that costs $100 million. So you
had better get back there and cut some of this out. We can add
it in later." So I think he came in and brought it in, in about
1998, at one of those hearings.
But in any event, we launched a visitors' center with that
deal. We, actually, had a group that raised the money. The last
meeting that was held was on the evening of September 10th.
That was in the Speaker's dining room. I attended that. It was
September 10, 2001, which, ironically, put me in the Pentagon
the next morning with Donald Rumsfeld. That is another story.
I point this out to give you some of the history of my
involvement. I was appointed to the Capitol Preservation
Commission until just January, so I have seen the project from
the beginning and probably have more of the historical
knowledge.
It is true there were very few votes taken. The one we did
to authorize the project was probably the longest in history.
It lasted almost 30 days because of all of the prima donnas, as
I call them, on the Preservation Commission, who were chairmen
and leadership of key committees. And the leadership of the
House and Senate had to meet and approve the project, which we
did in a vote, again, that was extended for some time. That
brings us up to building the center and some of the purpose for
that.
Now, I am not opposed to naming a room or a space after the
slaves who helped build this facility. I do not think that the
Great Hall, though, is the appropriate hall. And I think that
it would be more appropriate if you consider--if you want to
look at the historic context of what I think would be
appropriate, the exhibition hall--and some of this space was
designed by Mr. Applebaum.
I remember my first meeting with Mr. Applebaum when he was
chosen to design this. Of course, he did the Holocaust Museum.
I said, "Do you know what is going to go in this space?" then I
described to him some of the documents like the Emancipation
Proclamation and things that are rarely seen. I said, "Have you
been to the Library of Congress to see any of the treasures
that are down in the National Archives?" he said, "No." I said,
"Well, I am going to terminate this meeting with you, because I
want you to go down and see those things, these treasures, that
belong to the people and that are some of our most valuable
things and have them on display." And he went back, and he did
see it, and then we met again, and he designed some of the
spaces, as you know.
And I think that, given--and I will tell you a little bit
more of the history that I think is important in this--I think
that, actually, the Great Hall is an inappropriate place to
name after those who sacrificed through slavery. The Great
Hall, actually, will be the repository of the cast in plaster
that was done by Thomas Crawford. Actually, we put in skylights
so you could see the pediments of the building. Ironically, you
will see in both of those instances the decisions by someone
who had no respect for slavery, who, in fact, led the whole
cause of the Confederacy based on keeping the enslavement of
people, who was the one who had the biggest impact on how we
view the Capitol today, the extension, the 1850s extension of
the House and the Senate. And the person who did that was at
first a Senator and an appropriator; that was Jefferson Davis.
And then Jefferson Davis, ironically, was the Secretary of War
when the building was built.
If you go back and look at the history, Thomas Crawford was
one of the most accomplished sculptors and was picked for the
responsibility of sculpting both the pediment of the Senate and
also the Statue of Freedom that we have on the top. His studio
was in Rome, but he was an American. Actually, you could go
back and look at the documents. Jefferson Davis altered the
statues--the pediment you see of the Senate and the Statue of
Freedom, because when he originally designed those figures, he
had the egalitarian cap which stood for liberty, fraternity and
equality. He did not favor equality.
So, ironically, you will have staring in the visitor's eye
the symbols of Jefferson Davis, who was not very inclined to
have the Nation's Capitol and that view you will be seeing have
anything to do with the emancipation of the slaves.
In opposition to that, you have an Exhibition Hall here
which very few folks--I remember back in the 1980s, I had heard
of Washington's tomb, but I never knew where it was, and I did
not know that it housed the catafalque of the great
emancipator, Abraham Lincoln. You know, in the space that we
have designed, at the very center of the space is going to be
this little niche, and in that niche, we are going to place the
catafalque of the great emancipator, Abraham Lincoln.
So, within that space, you will have something that people
have not seen, except on rare occasions, in the ceremonial
death of some famous American. And you will also have the
ability to show that document that was part of the motivation
for this space that people could see.
So that would be my first preference, to name a hall, which
truly will, for generations, be able to display the documents
of freedom for slaves and for all of the rights and other
things that we have. Then, secondly, you will also have the
funeral of the great emancipator there. So that would be my
first consideration and suggestion.
The second is, this is where the emancipators of the future
will be, and that is our successors. It was not Congress that
freed the slaves; it was Abraham Lincoln, by his proclamation.
But we do have the largest auditorium, which will be where the
House of Representatives and future joint sessions will meet as
we make repairs and other renovations to the existing spaces.
I gave you my first preference, which has both its roots in
the history of the building and in the evolution of the
visitors' center, and then I gave you my second choice. So
those are some of the points that I wanted to make today.
I have no objection to, again, recognizing those. There are
many--Joe is here--there are Italian Americans, there are
indentured whites who also built the Capitol. I am very proud
of my Italian American heritage and Brumidi, who is often
mentioned, but he is only one of numerous people who
contributed to the Capitol, including those who were enslaved.
So I do feel it is appropriate--I do--to name a significant
space in this new center, and those are my thoughts.
I appreciate your allowing me to go a little bit beyond to
share some of the history, because I think it needs to be
recorded. And thank you for allowing me to participate. I look
forward to working with both of you on the Committee and on the
Full Committee in the House on this project.
Thank you.
Ms. Norton. I thank the Ranking Member for his remarks. We,
certainly, will look more closely at what you are saying.
I do want to say for the record that Congress recognized
that the Capitol was built by working people, but when the
study committee was set up--and it was set up by the prior
Congress before the present majority came here--it was set up
with the understanding that there had to be special recognition
for people who were slaves and who built the Capitol.
No one wants to take anything from working people who, in
fact, contributed to building this great Capitol. And whenever
we speak about the Capitol, we say that the slaves were among
others, including free blacks and many white people.
The circumstances under which black craftsmen contributed
to this building has never been recognized, even though the
contributions of most Americans have managed to be recognized
in some form or fashion somewhere. Thus, it was thought by
Congress that the slaves should be singled out. And that is not
because they were black; it was because they had been slaves
and had made this special contribution to representative
democracy.
Mr. Cohen?
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to be here
and to speak in favor of the legislation that my colleague from
Tennessee, Representative Wamp, and my colleague from Illinois,
Representative Jackson, have introduced.
It is entirely fitting and appropriate that there be a
special recognition of what slaves gave, not only to this
Capitol but to this country. The contributions of slaves to
this country's good fortune have not been recognized, and most
people do not know them. And by naming this hall the
Emancipation Hall and having the story in this hall, where so
many Americans come to reflect on their heritage and this great
country and to understand the foundations and to see where
slavery contributed and to understand more about slavery and
the role it played in this country and the lack of remuneration
or consideration ever given to people, obviously, who were
slaves, is important and appropriate.
You get a new country and you advertise,you know, "Come
over here. We are going to take land from the Native American
Indians, and we are going to give you an opportunity to have
slave labor." It is a heck of a way to start a country or a
business. You know, you get land from somebody else and get
labor that does not cost you anything. Great start. That is a
great way to boost a country.
People have to understand that is how this country really
got its great start, especially the southern part of the United
States. And it was not just the farmers; it was the folks who
shipped the cotton, who insured the cotton, who produced the
clothes. It was basically the railroads, the shipping industry,
everybody. And that is who were the main cogs in your economy,
then: the railroads, the steamship companies, the Merchant
Marines, as well as the landed folk and the traders. So they
had a pretty good opportunity to benefit from slave labor, and
people need to learn about that and see it.
I commend each of you for bringing this bill. It is the
right thing to do. It has 227 cosponsors. I hope it has 435
votes.
Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Ms. Norton. Thank you very much, Mr. Cohen.
Could I ask our two witnesses if they would come forward
now?
Frankly, proceed in whatever order suits you.
TESTIMONY OF HON. ZACH WAMP, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM
THE STATE OF TENNESSEE; HON. JESSE JACKSON, JR., A
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
Mr. Wamp. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Out of my friend Jesse
Jackson's courtesy, I will go first. Let me just say that I
have a written statement for the record, but I do not want to
read it. I just want to speak from the heart to you, Madam
Chairman.
Thank you so much for calling this hearing, and I would
encourage you to move the bill. Do not wait on any
appropriations bill. When an idea this good surfaces, we all
need to come together. We got 227 cosponsors in 2 days. We
could have gotten probably 400 or more if we had just wanted to
have cosponsors, but we just wanted enough cosponsors to get
you to call a hearing and to consider this bill.
I served on this Committee years ago before I went to the
Appropriations Committee, and I admire you so very much, and I
thank you so much, Madam Chairman, for this opportunity.
And I want to recognize the distinguished Ranking Member of
the Full Committee, Mr. Mica, who spoke, and, of course, on the
Subcommittee, my friend Sam Graves. But I would beg to differ
with the distinguished Chairman of the Full Committee. I do
want to say for the record that the quality of the CVC is, in
large part, due to his commitment to this. And the quality is
there; the cost, obviously, is more.
I am the Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch
Appropriations Subcommittee, which is now charged with bringing
this project in next year for landing and in trying to bring it
in as close to the current budget and timeline as we possibly
can. It got bigger and more costly than we wanted, but I have
taken, in the last 13 years, over 1,700 groups through the
Capitol. I do all my tours myself, and I love it. I will do one
tonight. I had 250 college students here this weekend, and I
took them through the Capitol. I tell a lot of stories and
study a lot of the history, as Mr. Mica does.
And one time, about 10 years ago, I was between the
concrete drum of the Rotunda and the exterior, going up for a
dome tour, and I stopped and asked one of the red-coat tour
guides coming down, "What are these little hooks and hangers
that are hanging all the way around the perimeter of the dome?"
he said, "Man, that is a great question. Few people ever ask
about it, but that is where they hung their lanterns at night
while people slept here while building the dome of the
Rotunda." And he said, ironically, at that time, it would have
been a combination of slave labor and the Union soldiers who
were fighting for their freedom on the battlefield. They
rotated in and out of Washington for respite off the
battlefield, to come here. And they worked side by side. And he
said, "Just imagine the Jew's harp playing and them kind of
spend the time together, sleeping there, to go back in to build
the dome, in the depths of the Civil War, to complete the
Capitol in its current form."
This CVC is 580,000 square feet. The current Capitol is
about 770,000 square feet. So we are dramatically, by about
two-thirds the size, increasing the scope of the Capitol. Well,
the new space that, unfortunately, is referred to as the Great
Hall is 20,000 square feet of floor space. That is almost three
times the size of the floor space of the Rotunda. This is the
largest room, and it is going to actually be the room with the
most people in it. Once the CVC opens the Capitol in totality,
this room will be the room with the most people in it, because
that is where all of the visitors will be staged as they enter
the Capitol.
What more important way to honor this very important part
of American history than to name this hall Emancipation Hall?
This is where it should be honored in the most meaningful way
in this grand hall. Right through the tunnel at the Library of
Congress is the Great Hall. It is the foyer of the Library of
Congress. It has been for over 100 years. It is one of the most
ornate spaces in the United States of America.
From the first hearing we held in our Appropriations
Subcommittee in January forward, everyone agrees--the architect
and everyone involved--that you cannot have two rooms named the
Great Hall on each end of the tunnel. That is mass confusion.
Everyone says that is a mistake. It should not be called the
Great Hall.
So, obviously, step one: It should not be called the Great
Hall because that is duplicative, and it is going to be very
confusing, so we need to change the name.
Number two, then what will it be called? And that is
obviously the jurisdiction of this Subcommittee. But
emancipation is the proper way to do this. This is bigger than
any of us. That is why there is so much support for this,
because this is bigger. You may say, "What is a white guy from
the South doing offering Emancipation Hall?" hey, I think that
is pretty cool. That is the way it ought to be. We need
reconciliation, healing. This brings about justice.
This, actually, may be a bigger way to honor them than you
would think. I do not think it is a small thing. I think it is
a big thing. I think every person who comes through this
Capitol from that day forward is told the story of how
important this chapter in American history was to emancipate
people, to free them, to treat them equally. In this hall, you
look up through the glass, and you see that dome, and you know
what it meant. You knew that Lincoln was petitioned during the
Civil War to stop the construction of the dome because the cast
iron was depleting our ability to prosecute the war, and he
said, "No. The world is watching, and we are divided, and the
dome will be a symbol to the world that we are still a union,"
and he persevered and emancipated. He was white, too.
We should come together through this process. We should use
this as an opportunity to bring the Congress to a better place
so there can be healing and reconciliation and so that we can
honor this labor and these people, these great Americans who
did this who have never been honored. This is bigger than us.
Please, do not delay. Please, report this bill
expeditiously to the floor. Take it to the Senate. Let us do
this together. Let there not be a division of all of the
lessons learned from the divisions of history. We should not do
this now. That is why I am so honored to be a partner with
Jesse Jackson, Jr., and to do this. Friends from across the
aisle, do this together.
I yield to him.
Mr. Jackson. Madam Chair, Ranking Member Graves and Members
of the Subcommittee, and Mr. Mica, I am pleased to testify in
support of legislation to rename the main hall of the Capitol
Visitor Center as Emancipation Hall.
In June of this year, I was proud to team up with my good
friend and colleague Zach Wamp in offering an identical measure
in the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill. And while that
bill has passed the Congress, we acknowledge the jurisdiction
of this Committee and return to this Committee with more than
227 Members of Congress who support moving independent
legislation to advance this proposition.
When I spoke to the Appropriations Committee in June, I
urged my colleagues to begin a new chapter in history and to
fight for emancipation. Emancipation is the great theme of
Americans' still unfolding story. Unlike what Mr. Mica
indicated in his remarks, it is not a side story, it is not a
side room. It is central to understanding America, it is
central to the understanding of this institution, and it is
central to the development of this building and this democracy.
As the future entryway and focal point for the millions of
visitors each year to the Nation's Capitol, Emancipation Hall
will serve and stand as a memorial to our country's struggle
and journey from slavery to freedom. Lincoln's first and second
inaugural address occurred on the stairs directly above
Emancipation Hall. The Lincoln Memorial has both of those
speeches in great detail, indicating the great dilemma that
confronted his presidency, not only in the construction of the
Capitol, itself, but in the maintenance of the Union. In fact,
saving the Union and making the Union more perfect were his
penultimate and primary goals.
Emancipation--that preeminent event in American history,
that definitive moment, that contemporary memory that tends to
let go and long since escape--is not included in the mural in
the Rotunda, depicting the rise of our Nation. In fact, in the
Capitol Rotunda, where pilgrims arrive on one end of the mural,
you follow the story all the way around to the Wright Brothers.
There is not a single African American or person of color,
other than Native Americans, in that story. They are completely
left out of the story of America. For the millions of visitors
who visit our Capitol Rotunda, the story of our journey from
slavery to freedom is not depicted.
Emancipation is forgotten as we race up the Capitol stairs
every day to vote. They are made out of granite from Georgia's
venerable and infamous Stone Mountain, where the Ku Klux Klan
was born.
The Senate Chamber, the old Senate Chamber, for the
millions of Americans who visit our Capitol, is known for one
primary event: the beating of Senator Charles Sumner by Preston
Brooks, a Congressman from South Carolina. And the book still
marks the location in that room where Charles Sumner was caned.
Old Statuary Hall, never divided between Democrats and
Republicans, it is divided primarily by this side of the aisle
and that side of the aisle as free States and slave States. For
the millions of visitors who visit Statuary Hall, they are told
of a single story--the acoustics of the building, the acoustics
of the room, how to talk to the floor, and how to run to the
other side of the room and hear your voice echoing off of the
ceiling--not the history of how slaves and States were admitted
to the Union, one free and one slave, not the California
compromise, not the compromise of 1832, not the compromise of
1834, not the secession of States from the Union, but for the
millions of Americans who enter our Statuary Hall, if you stand
right here and talk to the floor and if you run to the other
side of the room, you can hear the echo chamber of the
acoustically sound Old Statuary Hall.
The Old Supreme Court Chamber is known for three things--
the Amistad Africans, the Dred Scott decision, the Plessy v.
Ferguson decision--all decided in this building. To this day,
the most scurrilous part of Chief Justice Taney's record was
his decision in Dred Scott. For the most part, the idea of
building a more perfect union occurred under Taney's Supreme
Court Chief Justiceship, but his entire reign on the Court was
profoundly affected by one infamous decision, Dred Scott.
So race, slavery, emancipation is not a room, like the
Ranking Member said, off to the side of the Capitol. It is
central to who we are as a country. Yet, the story in the
Capitol Rotunda, in Statuary Hall, in the Old Supreme Court
Chamber, in the Old Senate Chamber--in every way that we can
possibly find, we suppress the story. Emancipation Hall is
ignored. Emancipation is ignored in Statuary Hall, as we count
among our honored dead Confederate President and Democrat
Jefferson Davis; Confederate Vice President and Democrat
Alexander Hamilton Stephens; Confederate Democrat General
Robert E. Lee, still wearing his Confederate States of America
uniform; and Confederate Democrat General Joseph Wheeler, still
in uniform.
But a little-known party founded in Ripon, Wisconsin, in
1854 came into existence, the Republican Party, against this
fundamental Democratic Party philosophy of the idea of ending
the peculiar institution of slavery, emancipating them and
building a more perfect union for all Americans. The idea of
Emancipation Hall is perfectly suited to be introduced by a
gentleman from the South, Mr. Wamp. The idea that a Republican
would fight for emancipation is a very historically accurate
process, and I congratulate the gentleman.
Instead of visitors getting that information, we reduce the
story of our Nation--that is, how States have gone from slavery
to freedom--into a conversation about acoustics. No one wants
to deal with the painful past. So, instead, we suppress the
story, and we suppress everyone's history. We must tell an
honest and informed story of all that has come before us.
The United States Congress has the power and the authority
to tell the real story. We can do better by capturing the
fullness of the meaning of our Republic's history in this
Capitol. We must tell visitors about the story of freedom and
the costly course of emancipation. Who would we be without
emancipation? Our House divided would not stand. We would not
have the ability or the moral authority to fight for democracy
around the globe. We would not have, as Abraham Lincoln said, a
new birth of freedom so that a government of the people, by the
people and for the people shall not perish from the face of the
earth.
Placing Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center is
a small step, but a significant step, on our journey toward
freedom from the ongoing struggles and problems associated with
the legacy of slavery. This works largely because we are still
not comfortable talking about this shameful legacy, talking
about race, talking about class. Fifty years ago today, nine
students in Little Rock, Arkansas, forced us to talk about race
and class. Last week, six students in Jena, Louisiana, were
supported by thousands of marchers who forced us to talk about
race and class.
Emancipation Hall will remind every American and everyone
from around the world who visits our Capitol of our Nation's
continuing commitment to move from oppression to equality, from
division to union, a more perfect union. This hall will stand
as a testament to the fact that the long arc of history bends
toward freedom and justice.
I would like to close, Madam Chair, on just two small
points. Just a couple hundred yards from the entrance to
Emancipation Hall, our forebears, our forefathers, placed a
marker to the significance of this particular event. Just 200
yards from the entrance to Emancipation Hall is the following
statue--the following monument on the circle directly in front
of the new Capitol Visitor Center.
On this date, April 4th, Abraham Lincoln visited Richmond.
He went to the Confederate White House and sat on the
President's chair. As he walked the streets of Richmond, crowds
gathered around him, including former slaves who proclaimed
him, among other things, and I quote, "the great messiah."
Overwhelmed by rare emotions, Lincoln said to one black man who
fell on his knees in front of him, quote, "Don't kneel to me.
This is not right. You must kneel to God only and thank him for
the liberty you will enjoy hereafter." Describing these events
in Richmond from a desk in the Confederate Capitol to the
Philadelphia press shortly after Gettysburg was its reporter T.
Morris Chester, a black man.
Why do I not, as the Chairman, try to indicate and support
the idea of Liberty Hall? Because, when Lincoln uses the word
"liberty" here, he is talking about the human condition of
moving from chattel slavery to liberty. The word "liberty," in
contemporary American English, has taken on a different
meaning. "liberty" in today's meaning has nothing to do with
the transition of people from a particular condition to
freedom. It has something to do, for example, with our ability
as a Nation--Blackwater now argues that they have a liberty, a
right, to do business in Iraq. General Motors, yesterday,
announced their liberty, their right, to move their plants to
other parts of the world and take advantage of workers.
"liberty" today takes on a different meaning than the liberty
for which Lincoln was talking about when this man fell to his
knees. And therefore, freedom and emancipation more
appropriately and more accurately capture precisely what Mr.
Lincoln was talking about when he made this statement, which
serves as a marker to the visitors' center that we seek to
build as the 110th Congress, and name.
Lastly, the Congress of the United States is responsible
for emancipation. The Congress did vote for emancipation. The
first 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
which passed this institution before the Civil War and before
the secession of States from the Union, authorized the
maintenance and the continuance of the peculiar institution of
slavery from then until the indefinite future. With the
secession of the States from the Union, such an amendment to
the Constitution, even though it passed the Congress by the
necessary votes, was never allowed to be added to the
Constitution.
Then, in 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln passed the
Emancipation Proclamation in executive order, it freed the
slaves in some States but kept them in place in other States,
and there is great debate as to whether or not that
Emancipation Proclamation actually had the power to free the
slaves. After Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, this Congress
then voted again on a new 13th Amendment with completely new
language. And it is that 13th Amendment that Southern States,
in order to be brought back into the Union, had to ratify,
which laid the foundation for the contemporary 13th Amendment,
the 14th Amendment and the 15th Amendment to the Constitution.
And therefore, it is appropriate that this Congress
recognize that this is not an act by Lincoln; it is an act by
the Congress to change the fundamental founding document of
this Nation to ensure that emancipation would become part of
who we are, going forward.
So I conclude just by saying, Madam Chair, that this bill
is appropriate before this Committee, but most importantly, Mr.
Counsel and Members of the Republican Party who are still in
attendance, it is important that this bill move through the
Congress without objection. It is not to be divided, Democrats
and Republicans, blacks and whites. This should not be the
story that emerges out of the 110th Congress.
I believe we can pass this bill because we have sufficient
numbers to pass it as a stand-alone piece of legislation, but
this legislation should leave this Congress unanimous. And we
should not open up a national debate about who is a racist, who
is not a racist because they did not understand the history and
the context and the significance of this event. And that is why
the appropriators, themselves, decided to move on it. And it is
my hope that this Committee will give it thoughtful
consideration, move it out unanimously, and let us move this
chapter forward.
I thank the gentlechairman.
Ms. Norton. I thank both of you for, really, deeply felt
and important testimony.
Let me just ask a few questions and then go to Mr. Cohen.
Do you know of any other bill for naming the Great Hall
that is pending in the House or Senate?
Mr. Wamp. Not to my knowledge, no, Madam Chair.
Mr. Jackson. Not to my knowledge, Madam Chair.
Ms. Norton. Representative Jackson spoke of the symbolism
of the stairs above the Great Hall and Lincoln, himself. The
Ranking Member pointed to things in the Great Hall of which I
am unfamiliar.
Do you have any knowledge of what it was specifically that
he was concerned about that would be in the Great Hall, as much
as he is not here now? Perhaps you understand that.
Mr. Wamp. Let me address that.
The artist who actually did the Statue of Freedom above the
dome is what he is talking about and the other things that that
artist did in his life. I think, frankly, it was completely off
track of where we are at and the focus of this hearing, because
we are talking about Emancipation Hall being this great room,
and if you have been there--and I have been there many, many,
many times--you are looking right at the dome, which is
exactly--now, the catafalque for Lincoln is also right off of
this room, and that very display area, actually, would not be
the most appropriate place to call Emancipation Hall, because
it is already programmed in different areas.
And if you listen to Tom Fontana, who is the expert who
actually planned all this, they already have all of that
programmed and exactly how it is supposed to step us up through
the history of the legislative process. That whole space was
designed to teach the visitor the legislative process and to
tie the House and the Senate in with history, not a specific
moment in history, like emancipation.
That is why it is so important, I think, that when people
come into this hall that it be referred to as Emancipation
Hall, but that was really off the topic.
Plus, let me say that, as to the idea that the theater
might be called Emancipation Hall, it is not open to the
public. There is no public access to the theater where the
Congress is going to sit and meet. So he had two alternatives,
neither of which is appropriate, frankly, respectfully, very
respectfully, because Tom Fontana would tell you they have
already programmed the way one of them is, which is to teach
the visitor the legislative process, and the other one does not
even have public access.
Mr. Jackson. In addition to the ranking Republican's
concerns and Mr. Wamp's concerns about what is appropriate in
the room, you cannot separate subsequent freedom movements or
freedom events from this central event of overcoming the
limitations of States' rights and State-centered federalism
over and against the idea of building a more perfect union for
all Americans. It was the women's suffragettes and the
abolitionists who would fight and lead a great struggle that
would lend itself to the new language of the 13th Amendment
that ultimately freed the slaves.
This whole idea of Juneteenth in Texas is not that they did
not get the word of the Emancipation Proclamation, but the
Texans would argue that, as long as the Constitution allowed
their State to maintain the institution of slavery, only a 13th
Amendment to the Constitution could free them. And that is why
not until 1865 did Texans get the idea that they could no
longer maintain chattel slavery.
Most importantly, when we started the Emancipation Hall and
we recognized that suffragettes and abolitionists would fight
for the language that would lead to the 15th Amendment and a
great division in that movement would then lead the
suffragettes to fight for their own language and their own
amendment that would manifest itself in the 19th Amendment,
many of these movements have their foundation in the struggle
over ending the peculiar institution in the States. And so it
is appropriate to have a hall named after the suffragettes. It
is appropriate to have a hall named after other great
movements.
But the central movement that lays the foundation for those
movements is the addition of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments
and the role that these individuals played in this institution
in constructing the building.
Ms. Norton. There is a vote on. I am going to ask Mr.
Graves if he has any questions. I am going to go to Mr. Cohen
at this point.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I just want to thank the two gentlemen for their remarks,
both of whom well addressed the subject.
And particularly, not with any derogation or lessening to
my distinguished colleague from Tennessee, but, Mr. Jackson, it
is an honor for me to be in this body, and your speech was one
of the best I have heard since I have been in it. And it made
me very proud to be a Member of this House of Representatives.
Mr. Jackson. Thank you, Mr. Cohen.
Ms. Norton. Thank you, Mr. Cohen.
On visiting the visitors' center, I asked if there was
anything already in place. This was, of course, some months
ago, and I was really saddened by what they pointed to--a kind
of railing, a kind of token alongside--as if there were other
events in the history of our country, far greater than building
the Capitol, that were a symbolism of slavery across the face
of this country from its beginning that could be captured in
some way by some object in a room.
We are going to have to try to clarify what it is, of
course, that the Ranking Member brought up, and we are pleased
to do that. I agree with the two Members who have worked so
hard for this bill, and congratulate them. That delay is not in
order because, this time, we really do think they are going to
finish the Capitol Visitor Center, and we would like to give it
a name.
I close simply by saying, if you are a third-generation
Washingtonian, there is always something personal in a
discussion of slavery in the District of Columbia. My own
great-grandfather did not arrive until the 1850s, but he
arrived in the way so many African Americans did. He ran away
from a slave plantation in Virginia, and, like so many slaves,
he immediately found work on the streets because they were
building the District of Columbia and there was not enough
labor. That was one of the important reasons that slave labor
in the prior decades was important to building the Capitol,
especially since it required some skilled labor.
The fact is, my friends, that every single public building
in the District of Columbia until 1863 was built, in part, with
slave labor, and you would never know it. May, at least, the
visitors' convention center give us a larger-than-life
opportunity to commemorate that fact.
Mr. Jackson. May I make one observation? I did not even
talk with Mr. Wamp about this. Because I am so concerned that
this be done right, I do not know if it is appropriate, but at
the appropriate time, I would be more than willing to make a
unanimous-consent request to remove my name as one of the chief
cosponsors and add you and Mr. Graves, if you are able to work
it out, so that this reflects the kind of bipartisan approach
that it deserves.
Ms. Norton. Mr. Jackson, I am already on the bill. This is
not about whose name is on the bill. The Congress has closed in
around this notion out of courtesy.
Of course, the Ranking Member has raised issues. Those
issues must be responded to on the record, but the point is to
move the bill forward. And I do not see any impediment, except
that I think we have an obligation to look at what the Ranking
Member raised.
I am pleased to call this hearing to a close and facilitate
everybody's rushing to the floor.
Mr. Jackson. Thank you, Madam Chair.
[Whereupon, at 2:57 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
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