Sens. Joe Lieberman and Charles Grassley  introduced the National Liberty Memorial Act, S. 883, in the 112th Congress on May 4, 2011. Reps. Donald Payne and Frank Wolf sponsored a companion bill, H.R. 2181, on June 14. The bills are identical to the one reported by the Senate Energy Committee on August 5, 2010. The Senate Energy Committee conducted a hearing on July 28, 2011, and ordered reported S. 883 on November 10, 2011. The House bill is awaiting action.  A request for a hearing is pending. 

Legislative History

Sens. Chris Dodd and Charles Grassley and Rep. Donald Payne introduced the National Liberty Memorial Act in the 109th Congress in 2005. The original bill sought to retain a site already approved for a predecessor memorial at Constitution Gardens. However, a moratorium on future construction on the Mall, enacted in 2003, placed this site off-limits.

A new bill, S. 2738, introduced in 2009, reaffirms a law approved in 1988 declaring the role of African Americans in the Revolutionary War of "preeminent historical and lasting significance to the nation." Had it been enacted, this designation would make the National Liberty Memorial eligible for a site in the Monumental Core of Washington, DC, known as Area 1. 

The Senate Energy Committee reported S. 2738 to the Senate unanimously on August 5, 2010. The House National Parks Subcommittee held a hearing on a companion bill, H.R. 4036, on September 16.  Later, S. 2738 was incorporated into an omnibus public lands bill with more than 100 other bills. With adjournment of the 111th Congress looming, the package did not receive further action. 

Prospects

Of the steps to erecting a memorial, Liberty Fund DC reached the stage where hearings were held in both houses of Congress and a bill was reported by one committee. Although the legislation was not approved, and the process must restart, the level of acceptance suggests the prospects for approval are encouraging in the 112th Congress.

Had the omnibus lands bill been approved, Liberty Fund DC would have been able to begin working with the National Park Service to identify and assess the merits of the half dozen or more available sites.

Documents 

• Lieberman, Grassley Introduce Legislation to Honor African American Heroes of the Revolutionary War, May 4, 2011
• National Liberty Memorial Act, S. 883