Opening Statement

Chairman Robert A. Brady

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

12:30 pm

1310 Longworth House Office Building

• The United States Capitol is a well known symbol of freedom and liberty. Yet the stories of the American slaves who built this symbol have been omitted from our history. Only a few documents remain to piece together their story. Whether it's Treasury Department pay slips at the National Archives or photos from the Architect of the Capitol's archives, we have evidence that slave laborers toiled in a harsh environment. Today, we are here to shed some light to the true laborers, African American slaves.
   
• While the story of Philip Reid has been documented -- he is best known to be the mastermind in casting and placing the Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol Dome -- there are countless other slaves whose stories are untold. Their stories are in the quarries of Stafford County, Virginia, where the most burdensome and back-breaking labor was cutting stone with pick axes. Their stories are in the saw mills where pit and stone sawing were grueling jobs. These slave laborers have been lost to the ages, but their skill and craftsmanship endures.
   
• The next time you walk through our Nation's Capitol, pause for a moment and reflect on the hardships these men must have endured. Without modern day equipment, equipped with only pick axes and saws, think about the intensity and hardships these slave laborers faced. Take the time to marvel and appreciate the strenuous work that created the beautiful columns in National Statuary Hall. These quarried stones, bricks and mortar, and hand-crafted carpentry, continue as a living history of the slaves who fashioned them.
   
• During today's hearing, we will hear panel 1- the slave labor task force members, on their recommendations of how we move forward in securing a befitting memorial. The second panel, the historians, will provide background information, and further insight into this untold chapter of American History.
   
• No piece of legislation or memorial stone will compensate for those who labored under slavery. A memorial, a commemorative plaque, or an exhibit, will never right the wrongs of the past; but will serve as a reminder of the story behind the significant contributions of an oppressed people. And it will serve for generations to come as a reminder that freedom and liberty are not always free, but that the will of the human spirit prevails.
   
• I would like to thank all of today's panelists for coming before us today. I look forward to your testimony. I now recognize Ranking Member Ehlers for 5 minutes for his opening statement.
   
• I ask that the panelists summarize their statements within the initial 5 minutes allotted to each witness. Without objection, all written statements from witnesses will appear in the record of the hearing. We will start with Congressman Lewis, and then Senator Lincoln, and so forth down the line.