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Senate unanimous‑consent request to pass SB 858 blocked after amendment offer to include Latino and Women’s museums
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Summary
A unanimous‑consent request to discharge the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and pass Senate Bill 858 — the Herschel Woody Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act — was blocked after a senator offered a modification to add language allowing the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum on the National Mall.
A senator from West Virginia asked the Senate for unanimous consent to discharge the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and immediately consider and pass Senate Bill 858, the Herschel Woody Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act, saying the monument is “fully funded with private donations” and belongs on the National Mall.
The senator from West Virginia told colleagues the bill had already cleared committee and the House and asked the Senate to proceed without delay. He said the measure honors Medal of Honor recipients and cited guests in the gallery, including veterans he named by rank and state. He asked: “I ask unanimous consent that the committee on energy and natural resources be discharged from further consideration of Senate Bill 858, and the Senate proceed to immediate consideration,” and that the bill as amended be read a third time and passed.
The presiding officer asked if there was an objection. The senator from California rose and said he supported recognition of Medal of Honor recipients but planned to offer a modification: to add text allowing the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum to be built on the National Mall and to include that text in Senate measure 858. He said those museum efforts had been the subject of prior committee consideration and bipartisan work and asked that his amendment “be considered and agreed to” as a modification to the unanimous‑consent request.
The senator from West Virginia objected to the modification, arguing his bill had already gone through hearings, markups, and unanimous committee approval and that adding the other measures at this stage would bypass proper steps. He stated, “I absolutely object,” which prevented the unanimous‑consent request from carrying on the floor in that moment.
A senator from California replied that the Latino and women’s museum proposals had gone through committee in prior Congresses and that he regretted the amendment was not accepted; he said he would work with colleagues to move those museum measures forward. A senator from Delaware then rose to speak in gratitude. No immediate vote or passage of SB 858 occurred on the floor during this exchange.
The motion and objection leave the underlying bill and the California senator’s proposed amendment available for future consideration under regular order, including formal committee action or negotiated agreement among senators. The record on the floor indicates support for honoring Medal of Honor recipients, disagreement over procedure and timing, and an outstanding question about combining placement language for multiple National Mall projects.
