Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) praised the House passage of H.R. 7573, legislation to replace the bust in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the author of the Dred Scott ruling in 1857 that upheld slavery, with one of Justice Thurgood Marshall, who fought for civil rights and equality as the Court’s first African-American justice. The bill would also require states to reclaim and replace any statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection of individuals who volunteered for the armed services of the Confederacy during the Civil War and specifically remove three statues – of John C. Calhoun, Charles B. Aycock and John C. Clarke – from the collection because of those individuals’ role in defending slavery, segregation and white supremacy.   

“Statues honoring white supremacists and segregationists stand contrary to the values upon which our nation were founded – that all men are created equal,” Sewell said. “Removing these statues is an important acknowledgement of the pain and repression caused by those who have defended slavery, segregation and white supremacy, but it is critical that we keep our eye on the prize and continue fighting for substantive policy change and cultural shifts that address our nation’s longstanding inequities and institutional racism.”

H.R. 7573 now heads to the Senate for consideration.