A bill to direct the Architect of the Capitol to replace the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the United States Capitol with a bust of Thurgood Marshall to be obtained by the Joint Committee on the Library, and for other purposes.

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3863 To direct the Architect of the Capitol to replace the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the United States Capitol with a bust of Thurgood Marshall to be obtained by the Joint Committee on the Library, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 2, 2020 Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Ad- ministration A BILL To direct the Architect of the Capitol to replace the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Cham- ber of the United States Capitol with a bust of Thurgood Marshall to be obtained by the Joint Committee on the Library, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 3 Congress finds the following: 4 (1) While sitting in the United States Capitol, 5 the Supreme Court issued the infamous Dred Scott 6 v. Sandford decision on March 6, 1857. Written by 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3863.IS S3863 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3863 IS Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, whose bust sits 1 inside the entrance to the Old Supreme Court 2 Chamber in the United States Capitol, this opinion 3 declared that African Americans were not citizens of 4 the United States and could not sue in Federal 5 courts. This decision further declared that Congress 6 did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the 7 territories. 8 (2) Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney’s author- 9 ship of Dred Scott v. Sandford, the effects of which 10 would only be overturned years later by the ratifica- 11 tion of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the 12 Constitution of the United States, renders a bust of 13 his likeness unsuitable for the honor of display to 14 the many visitors to the United States Capitol. 15 (3) As Frederick Douglass said of this decision 16 in May 1857, ‘‘This infamous decision of the Slave- 17 holding wing of the Supreme Court maintains that 18 slaves are within the contemplation of the Constitu- 19 tion of the United States, property; that slaves are 20 property in the same sense that horses, sheep, and 21 swine are property; that the old doctrine that slavery 22 is a creature of local law is false; that the right of 23 the slaveholder to his slave does not depend upon 24 the local law, but is secured wherever the Constitu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3863.IS S3863 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3863 IS tion of the United States extends; that Congress has 1 no right to prohibit slavery anywhere; that slavery 2 may go in safety anywhere under the star-spangled 3 banner; that colored persons of African descent have 4 no rights that white men are bound to respect; that 5 colored men of African descent are not and cannot 6 be citizens of the United States.’’. 7 (4) While the removal of Chief Justice Roger 8 Brooke Taney’s bust from the United States Capitol 9 does not relieve the Congress of the historical 10 wrongs it committed to protect the institution of 11 slavery, it expresses Congress’s recognition of one of 12 the most notorious wrongs to have ever taken place 13 in one of its rooms, that of Chief Justice Roger 14 Brooke Taney’s Dred Scott v. Sandford decision. 15 SEC. 2. REPLACEMENT OF BUST OF ROGER BROOKE TANEY 16 WITH BUST OF THURGOOD MARSHALL. 17 (a) REMOVAL OF BUST OF ROGER BROOKE 18 TANEY.—Not later than 30 days after the date of enact- 19 ment of this Act, the Architect of the Capitol shall remove 20 the bust of Roger Brooke Taney from the Old Supreme 21 Court Chamber of the United States Capitol. 22 (b) REPLACEMENT WITH BUST OF THURGOOD MAR- 23 SHALL.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3863.IS S3863 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3863 IS (1) OBTAINING BUST.—Not later than 2 years 1 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Joint 2 Committee on the Library shall enter into an agree- 3 ment to obtain a bust of Thurgood Marshall, under 4 such terms and conditions as the Joint Committee 5 considers appropriate, consistent with applicable law. 6 (2) PLACEMENT.—The Architect of the Capitol, 7 under the direction of the Joint Committee on the 8 Library, shall place the bust obtained under para- 9 graph (1) in the location in the Old Supreme Court 10 Chamber of the United States Capitol where the 11 bust of Roger Brooke Taney was located prior to re- 12 moval by the Architect of the Capitol under sub- 13 section (a). 14 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 15 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 16 necessary to carry out this Act, and any amounts so ap- 17 propriated shall remain available until expended. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3863.IS S3863 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS