RBG, Sandra Day O’Connor, to be Honored with Busts in Capitol
WASHINGTON — The House voted 349-63 Monday night to authorize the permanent display of former Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O’Connor in the U.S. Capitol.
Nineteen members did not cast a vote on the matter.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the vote, in which 19 members did not participate, was a fittingly bipartisan way to celebrate Women’s History Month.
The Senate has already approved this legislation, whose House companion was introduced by Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla. It will now go to President Joe Biden for his signature.
“This legislation complements the bill I introduced, and which the House passed last year, to ensure that the statues and busts we place in the Capitol reflect the best of America,” Hoyer said.
That bill called for the removal of those individuals who promoted slavery, segregation and sedition. It also included the replacement of the bust of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, who wrote the Dred Scott ruling in 1857, with one of Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American to serve on the highest court.
“I hope the Senate will take up that legislation and match its commitment to honoring national heroes in this temple to American democracy with a determination to end the unjust celebration of those whose actions brought shame to our nation,” Hoyer said.
“As tours resume in the Capitol and school groups bring young Americans to learn their country’s history, we ought to make sure that the historical figures we honor here truly reflect the values we wish to model in future generations of our people,” he added.
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