On the recordDecember 15, 2010
I am particularly grateful this evening to Chairman Brady for working so closely with me on the bill for statues for the District of Columbia, a bill I have introduced for years but that did not move until Mr. Brady became chair. However, Ranking Member Dan Lungren deserves special thanks for today's bill. When he said he could not support my bill for two statues for the District, he didn't say ``no'' to everything. He introduced his own bill for one statue for the District and one for each of the territories. The bill before the House this evening is essentially that bill, the Lungren bill. Our original bill for two statues for the District of Columbia was introduced only to give some small recognition to the taxpayers of the District, who get little enough recognition for their taxpaying status. In the end, in the spirit of compromise represented by Mr. Lungren's bill, I decided that we should seek to move Mr. Lungren's bill at this time, and I thank him for his bill. We recognize that the statues for each State are mere symbols, but for us, they are symbols of American citizenship itself, as embedded in the recognition of their own outstanding citizens by each State.
