Yesterday, Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC) introduced H. Res. 1378, a resolution to direct the Speaker of the House to issue rules permitting displays outside of House members’ Capitol Hill offices in tribute to U.S. service members killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The bill’s introduction is the latest action in Jones’ ongoing effort to retain the tributes to our fallen heroes that he and other House members maintain outside their Capitol Hill offices after those tributes were found to be in violation of the Speaker’s new “Hallway Policy.”
“I am disappointed that – despite requests from several members of Congress – the Speaker has declined to make an exception to the new Hallway Policy that would permit the continued display of memorials to honor and thank those who died serving in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Congressman Jones said. “For those of us who display these memorials, it is important they remain visible to the hundreds of visitors who pass through the House office buildings each day. They are a respectful reminder of the cost of war and the heroic sacrifices of those who have given their lives to preserve the freedoms all Americans enjoy today. Many of these memorials have been in place for several years without posing any obstacle to those who navigate the halls.”
“Because I have no intention of removing the memorial outside my office, I hope the House will act quickly to approve this resolution,” Jones said. “The fallen men and women of Camp Lejeune and the many other service members who have valiantly given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan deserve to be displayed and honored.”
The history behind the creation of congressional office memorials to honor fallen service members dates to 2004 when Jones and Congressman Rahm Emanuel introduced H. Con. Res. 506, directing the Architect of the Capitol to establish an exhibit in the Capitol rotunda to honor the memory of members of the United States Armed Forces who have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. While House Speaker Dennis Hastert ultimately directed the construction of a modest memorial listing names of the fallen in the foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building, failure to act on the resolution led Congressman Jones and other members to erect more proper memorials in their own office areas to honor the lives of these fallen heroes.
On July 7, 2008, Jones received correspondence from the Chief Administrative Officer and Architect of the Capitol asserting that the memorial honoring the fallen heroes of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune displayed outside his congressional office violates the new “Hallway Policy,” as approved by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on April 17, 2008. The policy states that items such as flags, equipment, furnishings and trash and recyclable material must be removed from the hallways. The policy defines furnishings in part as ‘easels’ and ‘exhibits and posters,’ the same materials used in construction of members’ “Faces of the Fallen” memorials.
The introduction of H. Res. 378 follows Speaker Pelosi’s response to requests by Congressman Jones, and other members, that the “Faces of the Fallen” memorials be excluded from the scope of the new Hallway Policy. In a July 22nd letter to Congressman Jones, the Speaker responded: “Members may erect memorials or displays within their offices, but not in hallways where they present hazards to the disabled, visitors, and congressional staff and members in the event of an emergency.”
Posted on Friday, July 25, 2008
by Walter Jones for Congress