Chris Dodd: “today is a truly historic day. After nearly three-quarters of a century of trying, a national museum dedicated to…”

“today is a truly historic day. After nearly three-quarters of a century of trying, a national museum dedicated to telling the story of the African American struggle and contribution to the founding and development of this country is about to be realized with passage of H.R. 3491, legislation to create a National Museum of African American History and Culture. Many individuals are to be congratulated and thanked for their efforts to bring this dream to fruition. In the Senate, my distinguished colleague and author of legislation this Congress to authorize the African American Museum, Senator Sam Brownback, has been a champion of this effort for the past two Congresses. I was pleased to be his coauthor on this measure. As chairman of the Senate Rules Committee last Congress, it was my great honor to work with him to produce legislation to create the Presidential Commission, whose report underpinned the legislation we introduced earlier this year. We would not be voting on this matter today but for the continuing efforts of Senator Brownback.”