Congressman Jackson Calls Emancipation Hall a New Chapter in America’s Unfolding Story
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) today released the following statement after attending the ceremony in the Oval Office where President George Bush signed into law a bill designating the great hall of the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center as Emancipation Hall:
“Today, we write a new chapter in the unfolding story of human freedom. As the future entryway and focal point of the CVC, Emancipation Hall will stand as a memorial to our nation’s struggle and progression from slavery to freedom.”
Congressman Jackson and Congressman Zach Wamp (R-TN) initially championed the renaming of the 20,000-square-foot hall during the appropriations process. They later decided to introduce stand-alone authorizing legislation, H.R. 3315, which quickly gained broad bipartisan support and passed the House and the Senate.
Jackson said, “Emancipation was more than an act, it was a process. It was not a date, it was our destiny. It was evidence that the long arc of history bends toward freedom and justice. So, it is entirely fitting that before entering the nation’s Capitol, this and future generations will pass through a concrete structure bearing the name — Emancipation.”
Emancipation Hall will be the largest space in the new visitors center, which is scheduled to open in 2008. Welcoming millions of visitors to the seat of American government, the $592 million CVC is located entirely underground on the east side of the Capitol and is the largest project in the Capitol’s 212-year history.
“Emancipation Hall will serve as a permanent reminder of our nation’s hard fought journey from oppression to equality. In ways substantive and symbolic, we must continue to move our country forward, going from slavery to Reconstruction, from Plessy to Brown, and from states' rights to a more perfect Union.
“Without emancipation, our house divided would not have stood. We would not be a beacon of freedom and democracy around the world. We would never have had, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, ‘a new birth of freedom.’ As a result of Emancipation, we now are, and must always be — the United States of America, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” Jackson concluded.
Related material
- Congressman Jackson testifying in favor of the Emancipation Hall Bill
- Text of Public Law 110-139
- Legislation sponsored by Congressman Jackson
- How Congress Works
- Photo Gallery
Other Commemorations
- January 23, 2008: Congressman Jackson Mourns Passing of a “Great Citizen”
- November 29, 2007: Congressman Jackson Mourns The Passing Of Friend And Mentor Henry J. Hyde
- October 12, 2007: Jackson Jr.:Al Gore Deserves the Nobel Prize
- June 7, 2006: Jackson Secures Funds For Rosa Parks Statue
- March 8, 2006: Gordon Parks: A Renaissance Man
- January 31, 2006: Congressman Jackson Mourns Death Of Coretta Scott King
- December 1, 2005: Rosa Parks Statue: "More Than Memento, Motivation"
- November 22, 2005: Rosa Parks Institute Backs 50th Anniversary Ceremony
- November 18, 2005: Congress Approves Jackson Bill On Rosa Parks Statue
- November 16, 2005: Senate Unanimously Passes Rosa Parks Resolution
- November 15, 2005: Congressional Leaders Moving Forward On House And Senate Bills To Honor Rosa Parks In National Statuary Hall
- October 26, 2005: Jackson Proposes To Honor Rosa Parks With Capitol Statue
- October 24, 2005: Remembering Rosa Parks
- August 8, 2005: Congressman Jackson Pays Tribute To John H. Johnson
- February 4, 2005: Jackson Mourns the Loss of Ossie Davis
- January 18, 2005: Jackson An Original Co-Sponsor Of Pardon For Jack Johnson
- January 3, 2005: Jackson Commemorates Shirley Chisholm
- June 23, 2003: Jackson Statement on Maynard Jackson