Sam Gibbons: “Mr. Speaker, Senate Bill 1233, introduced by Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland and amended by the Committee on the…”

“Mr. Speaker, Senate Bill 1233, introduced by Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland and amended by the Committee on the Judiciary, authorizes assistance for the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum and Justice Learning Center located in Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Speaker, the Great Blacks in Wax Museum was founded in 1983 by Doctors Elmer and Joanne Martin, two Baltimore educators who used their personal savings to purchase wax figures which they displayed in schools, churches, shopping malls, and festivals in the mid-Atlantic region. The goal of the Martins was to test public reaction to the idea of a black history wax museum. So positive was the response over time that the museum has been heralded by the public and the media as a national treasure. As part of a proposed expansion of the museum, which is to occur over the next several years, S. 1233 would allow the museum to receive grants from the U.S. Department of Justice to establish programs relating to civil rights and juvenile justice.”