A concurrent resolution authorizing the use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center for the unveiling of a statue of Frederick Douglass.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. Con. Res. 16, which authorizes the use of Emancipation Hall for the unveiling of a statute of Frederick Douglass. It is fitting and proper that Emancipation Hall is the venue for the dedication of a memorial to one of this nation's greatest abolitionists and orators, and one of the closest friends and advisors of the Great Emancipator himself, Abraham Lincoln.

Frederick Douglass was born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey near Easton, Maryland, on February 18, 1818, and lived the first 20 years of his life as a slave before escaping to freedom in 1838 through the Underground Railroad. With the assistance of abolitionists, he resettled in New Bedford, Massachusetts and changed his name to avoid recapture by fugitive slave bounty hunters.

Frederick Douglass had no formal education but he recognized the power of education and taught himself to read and write. He would go on to become the publisher of ``The North Star,'' a leading abolitionist newspaper, whose motto was ``Right is of no Sex--Truth is of no Color-- God is the Father of us all, and we are all brethren.''

Frederick Douglass also authored one of the seminal works in American history, the influential autobiography ``Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,'' which explained with unsurpassed eloquence how slavery corrupts the human spirit and robs both master and slave of their freedom.

Frederick Douglass devoted his life to the struggle for freedom, human dignity, and the full measure of civil and human rights for all men and women, famously observing that ``where there is no struggle, there is no progress; power concedes nothing without demand. It never has and never will.''

Frederick Douglass was also one of America's greatest orators. He was the only African American to attend the first women's rights convention in 1848 at Seneca Falls, New York, where he spoke powerfully and forcefully in favor of women's suffrage. In his moving address, he said that he could not accept the right to vote as a black man if women could not also claim that right and suggested that the world would be a better place if women were involved in the political sphere:

In this denial of the right to participate in government,

not merely the degradation of woman and the perpetuation of a

great injustice happens, but the maiming and repudiation of

one-half of the moral and intellectual power of the

government of the world.

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered the address for which he is perhaps best known. The theme of that address to the Ladies of the Rochester Anti-Slavery Sewing Society was ``What to the slave is the 4th of July?'' In that speech, he described in stark and vivid detail the gap between America's principles and practices, its aspirations and the actual condition of people's lives, especially those persons of African descent. In answering the question, ``What to the slave is your 4th of July,'' he said:

[A] day that reveals to him, more than all other days in

the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the

constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your

boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness,

swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and

heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted

impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow

mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and

thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity,

are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and

hypocrisy--a thin veil to cover up crimes which would

disgrace a nation of savages.

But Frederick Douglass was not bitter at America, he was determined to make her better. And he did through his writings, lectures, speeches, and civic activism. Most of all, the bond of friendship he forged with President Lincoln helped the nation summon the will to accept civil war as the price to be paid to abolish American slavery and emancipate from bondage millions of slaves and their descendants.

On April 14, 1876, the eleventh anniversary of the Lincoln's assassination, Frederick Douglass was the keynote speaker at the dedication of the Freedmen's Monument in Memory of Abraham Lincoln in the City of Washington, in which the Great Abolitionist spoke for all former slaves in paying tribute to the Great Emancipator:

Despite the mist and haze that surrounded him; we saw him .

. . in the light of the stern logic of great events, and in

view of that divinity which shapes our ends, . . . we came to

the conclusion that the hour and the man of our redemption

had somehow met in the person of Abraham Lincoln. [He] was at

the head of a great movement, and was in living and earnest

sympathy with that movement, which, in the nature of things,

must go on until slavery should be utterly and forever

abolished in the United States.

After the Civil War, Frederick served as U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia and later as the first African American Recorder of Deeds. In 1888 at the Republican National Convention, he became the first African-American to receive a vote for nomination as president of the United States by one of the major parties. From 1889 to 1891, Frederick Douglass served his country as Minister-Resident and Consul- General to Haiti. He died in Washington, D.C. on February 20, 1895, at the age of 77.

Mr. Speaker, the life of Frederick Douglass affirms what is great about our country. Here was a man who overcame the conditions of his birth and the disadvantages of his race to become one of the towering figures of his age. His life proves that Margaret Mead was right when she said:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed

citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing

that ever has.

With the unveiling of the statute in memory of Frederick Douglass, fittingly located in Emancipation Hall of the U.S. Capitol, the story of this great man who led such a consequential life will be made known to all who visit for generations to come.

I rise in strong support of Senate Concurrent Resolution 16.

I would like to begin by thanking Chairman Miller for her help in bringing this resolution to the floor. I also thank Ranking Member Brady for his longstanding commitment to placing a District of Columbia statue in the United States Capitol. When he chaired the committee, it approved my bill that would have given the District two statues in the Capitol, the usual practice. But, we are pleased to have our first statue and are grateful to the House leadership for permitting this bill on the floor today. We especially thank Senators Schumer and Durbin for their help in getting this resolution, as well as the bill authorizing the placement of the Douglass statue in the Capitol, passed in the Senate. The District of Columbia has no Senators so we're fortunate we have distinguished allies like Senators Schumer and Durbin.

Like the residents of the 50 States, the residents of the District of Columbia have fought and died in all our Nation's wars and have always paid Federal income taxes. Unlike the residents of the 50 States, however, District of Columbia residents are still fighting for their equal rights as American citizens. Since 2002, one component of that fight has been to have statues representing the District of Columbia placed in the Capitol, like the States, which fulfill every obligation of citizenship, as the District does.

D.C. residents chose Douglass to represent them in the Capitol not only because he is one of the great international icons of human and civil rights; but for us, Douglass is especially important because he was not content to rest on his historic national achievements alone. He knew where he lived and was deeply involved in the civic and political affairs of the District of Columbia.

Douglass, a strong Republican, served as Recorder of Deeds of the District of Columbia, as United States Marshal here, as a member of the D.C. Council--its upper chamber then--appointed by the Republican president at the time, Ulysses S. Grant. Douglass was also a member of the Board of Trustees of Howard University for 24 years. Douglass made his home in the Anacostia neighborhood of southeast Washington, which is now the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, administered by the National Park Service.

In choosing Douglass, it was important to our residents that Douglass also dedicated himself to securing self-government and voting rights for the residents of the District of Columbia. Many Americans may not know that D.C. residents have only rarely had even nonvoting representation in the Congress, or a local government, and even today have no vote on the floor of the House and no Senators, although our residents pay Federal income taxes like everybody else and fight in all the Nation's wars like everybody else. The city had both home rule and a delegate for a brief period during Reconstruction and then was without any home rule government or any representation in the Congress for over 100 years, until the 1970s.

In his autobiography, ``The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass,'' Douglass commented on the unequal political status of his hometown, the District of Columbia, and of its residents. Most of what Douglass wrote in the 19th century holds true today.

I am quoting Douglass from his autobiography:

These people are outside of the United States. They occupy

neutral ground and have no political existence. They have

neither voice nor vote in all the practical politics of the

United States. They are hardly to be called citizens of the

United States. Practically, they are aliens, not citizens but

subjects. The District of Columbia is the one spot where

there is no government for the people, of the people, and by

the people. Its citizens submit to rulers whom they have had

no choice in selecting. They obey laws which they had no

voice in making. They have plenty of taxation but no

representation.

In the great questions of politics in the country they can march with neither army, but are relegated to the position of neuters. I have nothing to say in favor of this anomalous condition of the people of the District of Columbia, and hardly think that it ought to be or will be much longer. Mr. Douglass did not mince his words.

The Douglass statue in our Capitol will recognize the universality of his dedication to human rights and democratic rights. His statue in the Capitol will remind District of Columbia residents that they, too, will partake of these values one day. His statue will offer the same pride that other citizens of our country experience when they come to the Capitol and see memorials that commemorate the efforts of their residents and their significant contributions. And the Douglass statue offers other Americans the opportunity to see the residents of their Nation's Capital honored as well in their Capitol.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 16) authorizing the use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center for the unveiling of a statue of Frederick Douglass.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the concurrent resolution.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Senate Concurrent Resolution 16, authorizing the use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center for the unveiling of a statue of Frederick Douglass, a great abolitionist. Frederick Douglass is a pivotal figure in American history who had an unyielding dedication to equal rights, the abolition of slavery, and the enhancement of women's suffrage. His brave actions and compelling writings inspired and forever changed this grateful Nation.

Born into slavery, Frederick Douglass escaped to New York in 1838 disguised as a free uniformed sailor. Upon achieving his own freedom, he quickly and unwaveringly turned his life's mission to seeking freedom, justice, and equality for all. Frederick Douglass inspired in African Americans the fundamental that one's achievement cannot be limited by one's color and that the American Dream is within reach for all Americans, regardless of race.

Over a century has passed since his death, and yet his contribution to American society is very much alive today. His tireless dedication, brilliant words, and inclusive vision of humanity continue to inspire people of all races. In considering the remarkable achievements of Frederick Douglass and his contributions to our rich history, his presence within the United States Capitol will honor this institution and serve as endearing testimony to this Nation's struggle for freedom and for equality.

I want to thank the Senator from the State of New York, Mr. Schumer, for

introducing this concurrent resolution, as well as my colleague, Ms. Norton from the District of Columbia, for her work on this, and I would certainly urge my colleagues to support it.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, again I want to thank my colleague from the District of Columbia for her very eloquent words. We are all looking forward to the unveiling of the statue of this remarkable American that is such a critical component of our proud history.

With that, I would urge all of my colleagues to support this Senate concurrent resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support S. Con. Res. 16, legislation authorizing the use of Emancipation Hall for the unveiling of a statue of Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass was an historic figure, whose work and legacy continues to improve lives and help us form a more perfect union.

The battle he valiantly led in the 19th century for equal rights and dignity has yielded great results and his sage advice to agitate at every turn continues to inspire men and women into action.

With each passing generation the march toward freedom and equal opportunity is moving closer to full realization thanks in part to the actions of Frederick Douglass.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Nettie Washington Douglass, the great, great granddaughter of Frederick Douglass, who chairs the Frederick Douglass Foundation, and continues the difficult work he started.

I proudly joined with her in urging President Obama to issue posthumously the Presidential Medal of Freedom and I am proud to support this resolution to properly recognize this great man and all that he has given to our country.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to S. Con. Res. 16, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.