Committee approves resolution to replace a Minnesota statue in Statuary Hall (SF 119); sponsor proposes Hubert Humphrey be added

Senate File 119, a memorial resolution addressing Minnesota's representation in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington, D.C., was recommended to pass from the Minnesota Senate Committee on State and Local Government and re‑referred to the Rules Committee on May 13.

Senator Swadzinski, the sponsor, argued the two statues each state sends to Statuary Hall should reflect widely recognized Minnesotans and urged replacing a current Minnesota statue (referred to in testimony as the “Rice” statue) with one of former U.S. Sen. Hubert Humphrey. “Therefore, the statue should be, in my opinion, people that more people know who they are,” Swadzinski said during his floor presentation.

Swadzinski cited recent inter‑state statue replacements in other states as context and described Humphrey's national and diplomatic roles as the rationale for his choice. Committee staff member Miss James answered a procedural question from Senator Drazkowski, saying a memorial resolution “needs to travel on its own” and cannot be used as a vehicle for regular legislation.

Committee action The committee adopted the A1 amendment to SF 119 and then voted to recommend the bill, as amended, to pass and re‑refer to the Rules Committee. The recorded discussion on the floor focused on the resolution's intent and a short procedural exchange about how memorial resolutions are handled in the legislative process.

What the measure does and next steps SF 119 is a memorial resolution; as presented in committee the measure requests a change in Minnesota's selection for the National Statuary Hall Collection. Committee staff indicated memorial resolutions must proceed separately and cannot be substituted for regular legislation. The measure now moves to the Rules Committee for further consideration.