G. K. Butterfield: “I thank Congresswoman Dingell for yielding time. I thank her for those kind words a moment ago and thank her for her…”

“I thank Congresswoman Dingell for yielding time. I thank her for those kind words a moment ago and thank her for her leadership here in the Congress. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 1949, the National Liberty Memorial Clarification Act of 2015. I was joined by my colleague, Congressman Tom McClintock from California, who serves as chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands. I am grateful for Chairman McClintock's early and sustained support for this bill and appreciate his moving it expeditiously to the floor for consideration. The National Liberty Memorial, which I have long supported, seeks to honor the more than 5,000 slaves and free persons of color or, as historians sometimes refer to them, free Negroes who fought for independence during the American Revolution. The memorial will ultimately be constructed near the National Mall in what is known as area one, pursuant to H.J. Res. 120, my resolution that was signed into law by President Obama last year. The preferred site location for the memorial is at the Department of Agriculture's Whitten Building, where both the memorial's private sponsor and the USDA want it to be ultimately constructed. Under current law, governed by the Commemorative Works Act, the Government Services Administration is charged with, among other things, site and design proposals and their submission to the appropriate memorial planning commissions.…”