The Thomas Paine Memorial Association achieved a significant procedural milestone on September 15, 2026, when the House Committee on Natural Resources unanimously voted in favor of H.R. 9600, the Common Sense 250 Act of 2026. The legislation would authorize placement of a Thomas Paine memorial in Area One of Washington, D.C., a section reserved for commemorating figures and subjects of paramount historical importance to the United States.
Area One locations require congressional approval under federal law, necessitating a distinct legislative process beyond the standard Commemorative Works Act procedures. The National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission had previously recommended an Area One location for the memorial in September 2024. Rather than await a formal Executive Branch recommendation, the Thomas Paine Memorial Association opted to pursue direct congressional action, resulting in the current bill introduced by Representative Jamie Raskin and Representative Victoria Spartz.
The timing of the proposal aligns with 2026 marking both the 250th anniversary of Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” publication and the nation’s 250th anniversary. The bill builds upon an initial congressional authorization granted in December 2022, which permitted the Memorial Association to establish a commemorative work on federal land in the District of Columbia area but did not specify an Area One location.
Sculptor Zenos Frudakis presented a design proposal featuring a clay model of the statue, currently housed at his studio in Pennsylvania. Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and secretary of the Memorial Association, testified before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands in support of the legislation on September 2, 2026.
The bill now advances to the next stage of the congressional process. Historical accounts note that Paine arrived in America in 1774 following an invitation from Benjamin Franklin and published the influential “Common Sense” pamphlet in January 1776, which presented arguments for independence in language accessible to general colonists.
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