What This Bill Does
This bill removes all statues of people who voluntarily served the Confederate States of America from display in the United States Capitol building. The bill requires the Architect of the Capitol (the official in charge of the Capitol building) to identify these statues and remove them within a set timeframe.
Who It Affects
The Architect of the Capitol. States that provided statues to display in the Capitol. The Joint Committee on the Library of Congress (a committee that oversees certain Capitol matters).
Key Provisions
• The Architect of the Capitol must identify all statues on display in the Capitol that feature people who voluntarily served the Confederate States of America (Sec. 2(b)(1)(A)).
• The Architect of the Capitol must remove these statues from the Capitol by no later than 120 days after the bill becomes law, with approval from the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress (Sec. 2(b)(1)(B)).
• States that originally provided statues can request the Architect of the Capitol return the statues to them if the state agrees to pay for transportation costs (Sec. 2(b)(2)(A)).
• Statues not returned to states must be stored by the Architect of the Capitol in a location not open to the public (Sec. 2(b)(2)(B)).
• States whose statues are removed can replace them with new statues that follow existing rules for Capitol statues (Sec. 2(b)(3)).
What Changes
Statues of people who voluntarily served the Confederate States of America will no longer be displayed in the United States Capitol building.
Important Definitions
None defined in bill text.
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 573
To remove all statues of individuals who voluntarily served the Confederate
States of America from display in the United States Capitol.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 28, 2023
Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr.
WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Rules and Administration
A BILL
To remove all statues of individuals who voluntarily served
the Confederate States of America from display in the
United States Capitol.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Confederate Monu-
4
ment Removal Act’’.
5
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS AND REMOVAL PROCEDURES.
6
(a) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 1814 of the Revised
7
Statutes (2 U.S.C. 2131) is amended by inserting ‘‘(other
8
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:25 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S573.IS
S573
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2
•S 573 IS
than persons who served voluntarily with the Confederate
1
States of America)’’ after ‘‘military services’’.
2
(b) STATUE REMOVAL PROCEDURES.—
3
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Architect of the Capitol
4
shall—
5
(A) identify all statues on display in the
6
United States Capitol that do not meet the re-
7
quirements of section 1814 of the Revised Stat-
8
utes (2 U.S.C. 2131), as amended by subsection
9
(a); and
10
(B) subject to the approval of the Joint
11
Committee on the Library of Congress, arrange
12
for the removal of each such statue from the
13
United States Capitol by not later than 120
14
days after the date of enactment of this Act.
15
(2) REMOVAL AND RETURN OF STATUES.—
16
(A) RETURNING STATUES TO STATES.—In
17
the case of a statue that is removed under this
18
subsection which was provided for display by a
19
State, the Architect of the Capitol shall arrange
20
to transfer and deliver the statue, and transfer
21
ownership of the statue, to the State if the
22
State so requests and agrees to pay any costs
23
related to the transportation of the statue to
24
the State.
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:25 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S573.IS
S573
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3
•S 573 IS
(B) OTHER SITUATIONS.—Any statue re-
1
moved under this subsection that is not trans-
2
ferred and delivered to a State in accordance
3
with subparagraph (A) shall remain in the cus-
4
tody of the Architect of the Capitol. The Archi-
5
tect of the Capitol shall store the removed stat-
6
ue in a nonpublic location.
7
(3) REPLACEMENT OF STATUES.—A State that
8
has a statue removed under this subsection shall be
9
able to replace such statue in accordance with the
10
requirements and procedures of section 1814 of the
11
Revised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 2131) and section 311 of
12
the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2001 (2
13
U.S.C. 2132).
14
(4) AUTHORIZATION AND APPROPRIATIONS.—
15
(A) IN GENERAL.—There are appropriated
16
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023,
17
out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise
18
appropriated, $2,000,000 to the Architect of
19
the Capitol to carry out this section, including
20
the costs related to the removal, transfer, secu-
21
rity, and storage of the statues described in
22
paragraph (1)(A).
23
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:25 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S573.IS
S573
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4
•S 573 IS
(B)
AVAILABILITY.—Amounts
appro-
1
priated under subparagraph (A) shall remain
2
available until expended.
3
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:25 Mar 09, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\S573.IS
S573
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS