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HR 4608
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Francis G. Newlands Memorial Removal Act

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to remove or permanently conceal the name of Francis Newlands on the grounds of the memorial fountain located at Chevy Chase Circle in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.

Introduced Jul 22, 2025

Latest action (Jul 22, 2025) Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Referred to
Natural Resources Committee
Policy area
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Legislative subjects (6)
District of ColumbiaMembers of CongressMonuments and memorialsMuseums, exhibitions, cultural centersRacial and ethnic relationsSenate

Summary

This bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior to remove or permanently conceal all references to Francis Newlands from the memorial fountain located at Chevy Chase Circle in Washington, D.C. Specifically, it would require removal of a brass plaque bearing his name, a stone tablet projection from the fountain's south face, and any carved references to "Newlands" on the fountain's coping stones. The removed items would first be offered to Newlands' descendants for a 60-day period; any unclaimed items would be transferred to the National Park Service for the Rock Creek Park museum collection.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)
2 cosponsors

Actions (3)
  1. Jul 22, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. · house
  2. Jul 22, 2025 Introduced in House
  3. Jul 22, 2025 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E706)

More bills on these subjects (8)

Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).

  • S 2369 — Francis G. Newlands Memorial Removal Act (shares 6 subjects)
  • HR 3838 — Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (shares 5 subjects)
  • HR 7006 — Financial Services and General Government and National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2026 (shares 3 subjects)
  • S 1071 — National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (shares 3 subjects)
  • HR 2196 — National Emergency Medical Services Memorial Extension Act (shares 2 subjects)
  • S 2546 — A bill to provide for an extension of the legislative authority of the National Emergency Medical Services Memorial Foundation to establish a commemorative work in the District of Columbia and its environs. (shares 2 subjects)
  • S 1353 — A bill to extend the authority for modifications to the Second Division Memorial in the District of Columbia. (shares 2 subjects)
  • S 3925 — Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park Act (shares 2 subjects)

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • S 2369 — Francis G. Newlands Memorial Removal Act · Introduced Dec 9, 2025 · Cong. 119 87%
  • HR 4268 — Remembering Our Local Heroes Act · Introduced Jun 30, 2025 · Cong. 119 54%
  • HR 4604 — Protecting America’s Treasures by Raising Inflow from Overseas Tourists (PATRIOT) Parks Act · Introduced Jul 22, 2025 · Cong. 119 53%
  • HR 3604 — Reducing Waste in National Parks Act · Introduced May 23, 2025 · Cong. 119 53%
  • HR 3421 — Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act of 2025 · Introduced May 15, 2025 · Cong. 119 52%
  • S 1037 — PARC Act · Introduced Mar 13, 2025 · Cong. 119 51%

Text versions (1)
  • Introduced in House · Jul 22, 2025

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 22, 2025

Ms. Norton (for herself, Mr. Raskin, and Mr. Carson) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to remove or permanently conceal the name of Francis Newlands on the grounds of the memorial fountain located at Chevy Chase Circle in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Francis G. Newlands Memorial Removal Act”.

SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF PLAQUE AND CONCRETE FROM MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN GROUNDS.

(a) In General.—The Secretary of the Interior shall—

(1) remove the brass plaque bearing the name “Senator Francis G. Newlands” from the grounds of the memorial fountain;

(2) remove from the south end of the memorial fountain’s face, the stone, tablet-like projection bearing the name of “Francis Griffith Newlands” and a related inscription;

(3) remove or permanently conceal the name “Newlands” carved into the upper face of the memorial fountain’s coping stones; and

(4) offer the items removed pursuant to paragraphs (1),

(2), and (3) to the descendants of Francis Griffith Newlands for a period of 60 days, and if not claimed within that period, direct the items removed pursuant to paragraphs (1), (2), and

(3) to be maintained by the National Park Service as Federal property and accessioned into the Rock Creek Park museum collection.

(b) Memorial Fountain.—For the purposes of this section, the term “memorial fountain” means the memorial fountain located at Chevy Chase Circle, Connecticut Avenue and Western Avenue NW, in the District of Columbia. <all>

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