Spartz Sponsors Bipartisan Bill to Honor Thomas Paine
Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Victoria Spartz (IN-05), with Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-08), introduced bipartisan legislation to direct the U.S. Department of the Interior to place the Thomas Paine Memorial in “Area 1” of the National Mall, as recommended by the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission (NCMAC).
“As we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, we remember Thomas Paine’s timeless words: ‘These are the times that try men’s souls,’ which helped rally General Washington’s army before the crossing of the Delaware - a pivotal moment that changed the course of the Revolution,” Spartz said. “Their sacrifices should remind us of the price so many Americans paid to secure our freedom - a precious gift we have a solemn duty to preserve for future generations.”
“Tom Paine, the extraordinary and indispensable patriot of the American Revolution and spellbinding exponent of democratic freedom, catalyzed our emerging nation to rise up against tyranny, monarchy and taxation without representation to conceive of a new nation based on religious liberty, freedom of thought, and democratic self-governance in service of the common good,” said Rep. Raskin. “On the 250th anniversary of the publication of Common Sense, our legislation finally brings the great Tom Paine from the attics and libraries of history to a place of shining prominence on our National Mall, establishing the dazzling national memorial he deserves.”
“Thomas Paine gave this country its argument for independence and then took up a musket in the Continental Army to help win it,” said Margaret Downey, President, Thomas Paine Memorial Association. “He sold half a million copies of 'Common Sense' when the nation was still an idea, and George Washington had 'The American Crisis' read aloud to the troops before they crossed the Delaware. Paine opposed slavery, called for the education of every child, and imagined a brotherhood of free nations long before the world was ready for it. Paine was a hero to Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. For 250 years the capital he helped bring into being has had no memorial to him. We intend to correct that, and Area 1 is exactly where he belongs.”
Rep. Spartz also sponsored the 2023 law that authorized the Thomas Paine Memorial Association to establish a memorial in Washington D.C.. The Paine memorial is fully funded with private contributions from admirers of Paine and his work. Paine is best known for writing the pamphlet Common Sense in 1776 which galvanized support for the American revolution.
Read the full bill text here.