Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. — Representing the People of the 2nd District of Illinois

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Congressman Jackson Calls Emancipation Hall a New Chapter in America’s Unfolding Story

Congressman Zach Wamp, President George W. Bush, and Congressman Jackson

President George Bush signed into law a bill designating the great hall of the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center as Emancipation Hall. The bill was sponsored by Congressmen Jackson and Zach Wamp (R-TN)

Congressman Jackson and Congressman Zach Wamp, standing in Emancipation Hall

Congressmen Jackson and Wamp tour the newly-named Emancipation Hall of the Capitol Visitors Center, which is due to open in 2008.

Congressman Jackson and Congressman Zach Wamp shaking hands in Emancipation Hall

Congressman Jackson and Congressman Zach Wamp standing in front of Emancipation Hall

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.