It has been a minute since our last update on the petition. To be honest, the results of the 2024 election were a setback knowing that our effort would be more difficult to pass legislation to redesignate the Arlington House as a National Historic Site. The legislation introduced in the 118th Congress died on December 31st. The recent actions and messaging of the current administration have re-enforced those concerns. Descendants are not deterred! While we needed a short breather, we are ready to forge ahead with our work. We remain committed to sharing the history and the broad narrative of the Arlington House plantation.
Although neither the House nor Senate bills were passed by the end of the 118th Congress, we made tremendous progress. The last House bill had 150 cosponsors. Since then, several wonderful things have occurred. Despite all the challenges currently facing our country, Congressman Don Beyer (VA) has continued to work closely with Arlington House descendants to reintroduce the legislation in February, during Black History month. The current bill is House Joint Resolution 63 (H.J. Res. 63). It has been referred to the same two House committees for consideration, Veterans Affairs and Armed Services. There are already 110 cosponsors on H.J. Res. 63! We expect that number to grow as we communicate with legislators to help them understand the value of this work and they become aware that you, their constituent, cares about this legislation and want to see it become law. We look forward to a companion bill being reintroduced in the Senate when the opportunity comes available.
On March 28th, our change.org petition campaign reached a new milestone passing 5,000 signatures. We’re so appreciative of the support that has been shown. Our sincere thanks to each of you who has signed the petition. Some of you have reached out to your elected officials to express your support. All of this is extremely helpful. There is more work to do. We need to continue to grow our collective voices and use them to tell our elected officials why they should take up this legislation and pass it.
This is challenging work that takes a great deal of time, energy, persistence and patience. Arlington House descendants look forward to continuing this journey with your continued help and support.