In March of 2007 bills were introduced into both houses of Congress (S. 1051 and H.R. 1693), " to authorize National Mall Liberty Fund D.C. to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia at Constitution Gardens previously approved to honor free persons and slaves who fought for independence, liberty, and justice for all during the American Revolution." This National Liberty Memorial will honor over 5,000 enslaved Americans and free persons of African descent who volunteered to serve as soldiers and sailors during the American Revolution plus thousands more who rendered civilian assistance that helped win the nation's independence. For more information about the monument and the organization formed to put it in place, . see the Web site of the National Mall Liberty Fund D.C. at libertyfunddc.org For summaries of each bill's current status check these links: S. 1051 and H.R. 1693

Recent Testimony on the Senate Bill On 2007 Sept 11, at 2:30 PM the Subcommittee on National Parks of the U.S. Senate's Committee for Energy and Resources held a hearing on S.1051 (and other bills) . The following MP3 files are excerpts (from the live Webcast of the hearing) of the portions of the hearing that addressed S.1051. The recording, excerpting, and conversion to MP3 files were done by Ralph Nelson. The files are presented in the order in which they occurred in time. Administration Stance [MP3 file, 1 min], by Mr. Daniel Wenk [National Park Service] Question and Answer Set 1 [MP3 file, 3 min], by Senator Akaka [D-HI], response by Mr. Wenk Question and Answer Set 2 [MP3 file, 3 min], by Senator Burr [R-NC], response by Mr. Wenk Testimony in Support [MP3 file, 9 min], by Mr. Maurice Barboza [National Mall Liberty Fund D.C.] Question and Answer Set 3 [MP3 file, 8 min], by Senator Akaka, response by Mr. Barboza Question and Answer Set 4 [MP3 file, 6 min], by Senator Burr, response by Mr. Barboza