[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 44 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 44

   Directing the Joint Committee on the Library to revise the statue 
 commemorating women's suffrage which is located in the rotunda of the 
United States Capitol, commonly known as the ``Portrait Monument'', by 
  placing on the statue an inscription which is based on the original 
 inscription which was on the statue when the statue was delivered to 
       the United States Capitol in 1921, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 24, 2019

Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Directing the Joint Committee on the Library to revise the statue 
 commemorating women's suffrage which is located in the rotunda of the 
United States Capitol, commonly known as the ``Portrait Monument'', by 
  placing on the statue an inscription which is based on the original 
 inscription which was on the statue when the statue was delivered to 
       the United States Capitol in 1921, and for other purposes.

Whereas, on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment to the Constitution was 
        ratified, giving women in the United States the right to vote;
Whereas in recognition of this historic achievement, on February 10, 1921, the 
        National Woman's Party presented to Congress a monument, commonly known 
        as the ``Portrait Monument'', in honor of the pioneers of the suffrage 
        movement that won women the right to vote;
Whereas the monument was accepted on behalf of Congress by the Joint Committee 
        on the Library;
Whereas, on February 15, 1921, the 101st anniversary of the birth of Susan B. 
        Anthony, an unveiling ceremony was held in the rotunda of the Capitol;
Whereas sculpted by Adelaide Johnson and originally referred to as the Memorial 
        to the Pioneers of the Woman's Suffrage Movement, the monument includes 
        busts of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott, as 
        well as an uncarved marble block as a reminder that the work of women 
        gaining equality was not completed with the passage of the 19th 
        amendment;
Whereas the original monument also included an inscription that read:
            ``Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, the three 
        great destiny characters of the world whose spiritual import and 
        historical significance transcend that of all others of any country or 
        age.
            ``Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the call of that first 
        woman's rights convention of 1848 initiated and Susan B. Anthony 
        marshalling the latent forces through three generations down more than a 
        half century of time guided the only fundamental universal uprising on 
        our planet. The woman's revolution.
            ``Principle not policy; justice, not favor; men, their rights and 
        nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less, was the clarion call 
        to the most astounding upheaval of all time. A call which waked the 
        world, signaled and inaugurated a revolution without tradition or 
        precedent, and proclaimed the first incontrovertible concept of human 
        freedom--that of individual liberty--personal responsibility, including 
        women.
            ``Woman, first denied a soul, then called mindless, now arisen 
        declared herself an entity to be reckoned.
            ``This mightiest of revolutions encircling the globe accomplishing 
        without bloodshed the overthrow of entrenched dogma and hoary bigotries 
        reached to the farthermost roots of being. Here indeed was the first, 
        the only impeachable demand for right as might ever made.
            ``Spiritually the woman movement is the all-enfolding one. It 
        represents the emancipation of womanhood. The release of the feminine 
        principle in humanity. The moral integration of human evolution come to 
        rescue torn and struggling humanity from its savage self.
            ``Historically these three stand unique and peerless.'';
Whereas shortly after it was unveiled in the Capitol in 1921, Congress moved the 
        monument to the Capitol ``Crypt'', which was not open to the public at 
        the time, and ordered that the inscription be removed from the monument;
Whereas at the time of the unveiling, the inscription was considered 
        ``blasphemous'';
Whereas the monument remained in the Capitol ``Crypt'' until Congress passed H. 
        Con. Res. 216 on September 27, 1996, directing the Architect of the 
        Capitol to relocate the monument to the Rotunda of the Capitol;
Whereas, since May 14, 1997, the Portrait Monument has been on display in the 
        rotunda of the Capitol; and
Whereas the original Portrait Monument inscription was never restored or 
        replaced: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),

SECTION 1. RESTORATION OF ORIGINAL INSCRIPTION ON PORTRAIT MONUMENT.

    (a) Restoration.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
adoption of this resolution, the Joint Committee on the Library shall 
revise the statue commemorating women's suffrage located in the rotunda 
of the United States Capitol (commonly known as the ``Portrait 
Monument'') by placing on the statue an inscription which is based on 
the original inscription that was on the statue when the statue was 
delivered to the United States Capitol on February 10, 1921.
    (b) Use of Rotunda of United States Capitol for Unveiling 
Ceremony.--The rotunda of the United States Capitol is authorized to be 
used on a date mutually agreed to by the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives and the Majority Leader of the Senate for a ceremony to 
unveil the Portrait Monument as revised by the Joint Committee on the 
Library under subsection (a). The Architect of the Capitol and the 
Capitol Police Board shall take such action as may be necessary with 
respect to physical preparations and security for the ceremony.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
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