HR250-119

Passed House

To direct the Joint Committee on the Library to procure a statue of Benjamin Franklin for placement in the Capitol.

119th Congress Introduced Feb 27, 2025

Summary

What This Bill Does

This one-section bill gives the Joint Committee on the Library two concrete deadlines for adding a Benjamin Franklin statue to the United States Capitol. By December 31, 2025, the Committee must enter into an agreement to obtain the statue under terms it considers appropriate and consistent with applicable law. By December 31, 2026, the Committee must place the statue in a suitable permanent location in the Capitol. The location must be accessible to the public during guided tours provided by the Capitol Visitor Center, so the statue is not merely acquired for storage or a restricted office area.

Who Benefits and How

Capitol Visitor Center tour participants, civic-education teachers, students visiting the Capitol, Benjamin Franklin memorial advocates, congressional art curators, Capitol tour guides, Pennsylvania history organizations, and statue artists or fabricators benefit because the bill creates a procurement deadline, a placement deadline, and a public-access requirement for a permanent Franklin commemoration inside the Capitol tour route.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Joint Committee on the Library, congressional procurement staff, Architect of the Capitol placement reviewers, Capitol Visitor Center tour planners, Capitol security staff, statue contractors, and federal taxpayers bear burdens because the bill requires an acquisition agreement, legal and procurement review, selection of a permanent Capitol site, tour-route access planning, installation coordination, and any public costs associated with obtaining and placing the statue.

Key Provisions

  • Requires the Joint Committee on the Library to enter an agreement to obtain a Benjamin Franklin statue by December 31, 2025.
  • Requires the Committee to place the statue in a suitable permanent Capitol location by December 31, 2026.
  • Requires the statue location to be accessible to the public during Capitol Visitor Center guided tours.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Directs the Joint Committee on the Library to enter an agreement by December 31, 2025 to obtain a Benjamin Franklin statue and to place it by December 31, 2026 in a permanent public location in the United States Capitol accessible during Capitol Visitor Center guided tours.

Key Policy Areas

Congressional Administration, Arts, Public Access

Primary Purpose

Directs the Joint Committee on the Library to enter an agreement by December 31, 2025 to obtain a Benjamin Franklin statue and to place it by December 31, 2026 in a permanent public location in the United States Capitol accessible during Capitol Visitor Center guided tours.

Policy Domains

Congressional Administration Arts Public Access

Substantive provisions

Identified Gains
  • Capitol Visitor Center tour participants
  • Civic-education teachers
  • Students visiting the Capitol
  • Benjamin Franklin memorial advocates
  • Congressional art curators
  • Capitol tour guides
  • Pennsylvania history organizations
  • Statue artists
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Statue artists:
Capitol tour guides:
Civic-education teachers:
Congressional art curators:
Students visiting the Capitol:
Pennsylvania history organizations:
Benjamin Franklin memorial advocates:
Capitol Visitor Center tour participants:
Identified Costs
  • Joint Committee on the Library
  • Congressional procurement staff
  • Architect of the Capitol placement reviewers
  • Capitol Visitor Center tour planners
  • Capitol security staff
  • Statue contractors
  • Federal taxpayers
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Federal taxpayers:
Statue contractors:
Capitol security staff:
Joint Committee on the Library:
Congressional procurement staff:
Capitol Visitor Center tour planners:
Architect of the Capitol placement reviewers:

Legislative Progress

Passed House
Introduced Committee Passed
Feb 27, 2025

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules …

Feb 27, 2025 (inferred)

Passed House (inferred from eh version)

Jan 9, 2025

Ms. Houlahan (for herself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mrs. McClain, Mr. Moulton, …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Government
4 mentions across 1 clause
-3 negative ?1 uncertain

Architect of the Capitol placement reviewers, Capitol tour guides, Congressional procurement staff

General Public
2 mentions across 1 clause
-1 negative ?1 uncertain

Capitol Visitor Center tour participants, Taxpayers

Professional Services
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

Statue artists

1/1
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Congressional Administration Arts Public Access
Actor Mappings
"committee"
→ Joint Committee on the Library
"visitor_center"
→ Capitol Visitor Center

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology