Bill to honor Billy Frank Jr. with statue in D.C. heads to Gov. Inslee’s desk
The full Washington state Legislature has now approved a bill to honor the late Billy Frank Jr., a history-making treaty rights advocate and Nisqually tribal member, with a statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington, D.C.
The state Senate passed the bill on a broadly bipartisan, 44-5 vote Monday afternoon, nearly a month after the House of Representatives approved the bill in a similarly bipartisan fashion.
“This is really an emotional moment,” Sen. Sam Hunt of Olympia said in floor debate. “Billy Frank was a longtime friend of many of us, and a hero for many of us in the state of Washington and the country.”
Last month during floor debate, House Minority Leader Rep. J.T. Wilcox of Yelm called Frank possibly “the greatest man who was born in Washington,” speaking to the man’s work and ability to bring people together.
The bill now heads to Gov. Jay Inslee’s desk. If signed into law, it will start the process to replace a statue of missionary Marcus Whitman now in the collection at the nation’s Capitol with one of Frank’s likeness.
Each state contributes two statues of notable deceased residents to the National Statuary Hall Collection. Washington’s are Marcus Whitman and Mother Joseph. The Whitman statue that would be replaced has been there about 70 years.
Whitman was a physician and missionary who helped lead wagon trains west and was ultimately killed by members of the Cayuse tribe after an outbreak of measles ravaged the tribe and its relations with Whitman and his wife.
Frank, who died in 2014, was a legendary advocate for endangered salmon and treaty rights. He organized “fish-ins” that led to the court ruling, known as the Boldt decision, affirming the rights of treaty tribes to half of all harvestable salmon and naming them co-managers of state fisheries.
Frank was first arrested for exercising his right to fish for salmon at age 14, and was arrested more than 50 times in all. President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Frank the Presidential Medal of Freedom — one of his many awards.
States can ask the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress to approve a statue’s replacement after the state legislature and governor approve a plan. The bill requests the replacement, creates the committee to carry it out, and requires the governor to send a written request to the Architect of the Capitol.
The statue of Marcus Whitman would ultimately be sent to Walla Walla County — Whitman and his wife started a mission near present-day Walla Walla.
None of the senators who voted against the bill, all of whom are Republican, explained their objections in floor debate Monday. In the House, though, a handful of Republicans also voted against the bill. Ahead of that vote, Rep. Brad Klippert of Kennewick said he didn’t have an issue with a Frank statue but opposed the Whitman statue’s removal.
Asked whether Inslee will sign the bill, spokesperson Tara Lee wrote in an email that “All bills go through review by the governor and staff prior to taking any action.”
However, she added, “The governor worked with Billy Frank Jr. and has deep respect for his work and his lasting impact on our state.”
This story was originally published April 5, 2021 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Bill to honor Billy Frank Jr. with statue in D.C. heads to Gov. Inslee’s desk."
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