Introduction of A Bill to Require the Library of Congress to Install the D.C. Seal in the Main Reading Room on the Thomas Jefferson Building
Floor Speech
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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce a bill to require the installation of the District of Columbia's seal on the stained-glass windows in the Main Reading Room of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, where the seals of all the states and territories that existed when the building was constructed, except for the District, are depicted. D.C.'s seal was readily available at that time and should have been included.
The seals of Hawaii and Alaska are not included in the display because they were not states or territories when the building was constructed. This fact argues for the inclusion of the District, which, after all, was the nation's capital at the time of construction. The omission of D.C. was brought to my attention by a District resident, Luis Landau, a former docent at the Library.
The residents of the District 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 Library of Congress, was burned, prompting construction of the current Library building with the state and territory seals. It is, therefore, without question that the District and its residents should receive equal treatment among the stained-glass windows 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 Jefferson Building, which is not open to the public, has a painted depiction of the D.C. seal included with state seals on its ceiling. This precedent reinforces our request to be represented among the stained-glass windows in the Main Reading Room, which is open to the public.
Congress already often includes D.C., or has corrected the omission of it, when honoring the states. For example, D.C. now has two statues in the Capitol alongside two statues from each of the 50 states. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 requires the armed services to display the District flag whenever the flags of the states are displayed. Legislation was also enacted to give D.C. a coin after it was omitted from legislation creating coins for the 50 states. We also successfully worked with the U.S. Postal Service to create a D.C. stamp, like the stamps for the 50 states, and worked with the National Park Service to add the D.C. flag alongside the state flags across from Union Station. It is long overdue to display the D.C. seal with the seals of the states in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress.
I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.
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