the national statuary hall of the united states capitol. and here in washington d.c. is dedicated to statues of our most prominent americans and on september 18th nebraska replaced one of their statues in the hall with what many consider to be one of the most important civil rights leaders in all of us history chief standing bear back an 875 standing various people the congo were moved time and time again by the government on to increasingly worse land leading to the deaths of over a 3rd of their people and trapped them in treaties the forced them to even another tribes land in oklahoma when standing bear 16 year old son died that the chief tried to return him to their ancestral lands of the brassica so that his son could be given a proper burial he was then arrested by the us army during the trial she's standing there argued against the government's claim that he and his people were neither citizens nor persons eventually winning when the judge declared they were a people and that they should be allowed to return to their lands here city standing there and the honor

statuary hall, the very room where she observed congress shamefully passing the indian removal act, we will dedicate a statue to honor the life of chief standing bear. it's another important lesson in our nation's story that in the end, with bravery, determination, and empathy, human freedom will always prevail. it is a great honor to celebrate the life and the contributions of chief standing bear, and i know his statue will inspire millions of visitors who visit the united states capitol every year. i am proud that chief standing bear's legacy and the message of equality lives on in our great cathedral of democracy. thank you, mr. president. i would yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. ms. ernst: mr. president, it is traditionally significant to exchange gifts on anniversaries, but yesterday we celebrated the anniversary of a truly remarkable gift given to each of us as americans. the constitution. on september 17, 1787, our founding fathers concluded the constitutional convention by proposing a new form of government based upon inalienable rights and self-determination of the american people. the founders of our great nation devoted incredible foresight to the very s