Frederick Douglass statue unveiled in the Capitol It is just over seven feet tall, a bronze, bearded figure with a determined gaze perched atop a three-foot marble pedestal. The combined weight is 1,700 pounds, but the symbolic heft of the Frederick Douglass statue is much greater, as became clear Wednesday when the casting of the famed abolitionist and District advocate found its place inside the halls of Congress after years of delay and debate. Juneteenth celebrates the anniversary of the days when Texas rejoined the union and the last confederate slaves won their freedom. Hari Jones, curator of the African American Civil War Museum, tells us the story of how, and why African American's fought in the Civil War. More news about D.C. politics Robert McCartney Mike DeBonis Pepco is seeking D.C. legislation that would allow it to collect nearly $16 million in tax refunds. The likeness of the famed abolitionist and District advocate finds its place after delay and debate. Before an audience that included Douglass's descendants, national and local leaders and representatives of the many places he called home, the first statue chosen to represent the District was unveiled at a ceremony filled with pageantry in the Capitol Visitor Center's Emancipation Hall. Of all the notable figures who have come to live in Washington, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said, "none before or since Douglass . . . has so joined his national prominence and philosophy with the aspirations of the people of the District of Columbia. . . . He refused to separate his life in the District with the equality theme of his courageous life. The statue's arrival marked the culmination of a fight by Norton and others that has stretched over a decade. Fittingly for a city that has endured repeated frustration at the hands of Congress, Wednesday's victory was only a partial one. The 50 states have two statues apiece in the Capitol, but the District was granted only one because congressional Republicans objected to placing the city on equal footing with the states. So a second completed statue, of architect Pierre L'Enfant, remains at One Judiciary Square and the District gets the same allotment as U.S. territories, despite the fact that - as local activists emphasize - Washingtonians pay federal income taxes and territorial residents do not. Some speakers Wednesday noted the irony that Douglass, a champion of D.C. voting rights and self-government, was being enshrined in a building where the city's voice remains muffled. We know that a single statue is not enough. . . . It is incumbent on all of us to right this wrong of history and afford the District of Columbia the voice it deserves," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.). Her fellow Democrats onstage applauded her remarks, while House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sat in silence. The two Republicans also declined to clap when Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) declared that the District "deserves statehood" and said that he had signed on to co-sponsor statehood legislation. Vice President Biden did not mention statehood but said he and President Obama support "home rule, budget autonomy and a vote for the District of Columbia." Although Republicans avoided talk of the District's plight, Boehner praised Douglass as "an example for humanity that is unmatched," while McConnell called him a great "leader of the Republican Party." Biden also joked that Douglass was "one of my favorite Republicans." And Nettie Washington Douglass, his great-great-granddaughter, said he "gave his spirit as a birthright to all of us."