July 2, 2009

Gov. Nixon transmits legislative request to honor Harry Truman in U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon yesterday officially transmitted to the Architect of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., a request to begin the process of replacing the existing statue of Francis Preston Blair in the Capitol's Statuary Hall with a statue of President Harry S. Truman.

In 2002, the Missouri General Assembly adopted, and Gov. Bob Holden signed, House Concurrent Resolution 16 to request approval from the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress to replace the statue of Blair with a statue of President Truman.

Each state is entitled to honor two of its outstanding, deceased citizens with statues in the Capitol's Statuary Hall. Federal statutes outline the process by which states may request to replace an existing statue. Under these federal guidelines, states must adopt legislation requesting a replacement statue. Once the legislation has been approved by the Governor, the official request is forwarded to the Architect of the Capitol for review. Requests received by the Architect are then considered by Congress' Joint Committee on the Library.

Unfortunately, when Congressman Russ Carnahan recently inquired about the status of this seven-year-old request, the Architect informed him that the official request had never been properly transmitted. At the request of Congressman Russ Carnahan and Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver, Gov. Nixon yesterday took the step of forwarding this request again.

"Harry Truman is one of America's most beloved Presidents, and one of the Show-Me State's proudest sons," Gov. Nixon said. "I am pleased to transmit this request to the Architect of the Capitol to begin the process of securing President Truman's place in this hall of honor."

If the Joint Committee on the Library approves the request to honor President Truman in Statuary Hall, the state is responsible for securing funds to hire the artist, create the sculpture and pedestal, to transmit the new sculpture to the Capitol in Washington, D.C., and to return the previous sculpture to Missouri. Should this process move forward, Gov. Nixon would work with the General Assembly, Missouri's Congressional delegation and others to determine the best course of action to raise private funds for this project.

A native of Independence, Mo., Harry S Truman served as the 33rd President of the United States. Truman is the only Missourian to have served in the nation's highest office. Francis Preston Blair was a member of Congress and served as a major general in the U.S. Army during the Civil War. Blair also was a candidate for Vice President of the United States.

The second Missouri statue on display in the U.S. Capitol is of former Senator Thomas Hart Benton.