Joe Crowley: “I thank the gentleman from Virginia for yielding me this time. I also want to thank the chairman and the ranking member…”

“I thank the gentleman from Virginia for yielding me this time. I also want to thank the chairman and the ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee here in the House of Representatives for moving this bill and helping to put this bill on the floor today in a bipartisan spirit. I would also like to acknowledge the majority and minority staff who have been very helpful to my office in this effort. True, this is not the first time this measure has been considered. It passed the House during the last Congress, but the session ended before it could be moved forward in the Senate and into law. It was then, as it is now, a bipartisan bill. I would like to acknowledge all of the Members who are cosponsors. In substance, the bill would, as has been said, name a small parcel of the land in Washington, D.C., as Robert Emmet Park. Emmet was honored by the United States over 100 years ago when a statue of his likeness was donated to the Smithsonian Institution. That statue was welcomed by no less than President Woodrow Wilson himself. After 50 years, the museum moved the statue to the land where it rests now, an unnamed parcel of land. The rededication committee counted many key leaders, including then-Speaker of the House John McCormack, Senator Everett Dirksen, and Senator Mike Mansfield.…”