CONGRESS FOR VOTERS

Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Protecting Presidential Memorials Act

S. 5603 · Senate bill Government Operations and Politics

A Democratic bill with 1 Republican cosponsor · See all 4 cosponsors

Last activity — Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 688.

Cleared committee, waiting for its first floor vote

A committee approved it and it is on the calendar of the chamber it started in.

This is further than most bills get, and still no promise of a vote: the calendar is a queue, and the majority leadership decides what is called. A bill can sit here until the Congress ends.

Its path through Congress

  1. Introduced
  2. On Calendar

What this bill would do

S. 5603, known as the Protecting Presidential Memorials Act, was introduced in the Senate on September 29, 2026. The bill was read a second time and placed on the calendar on September 30, 2026. The primary purpose of the legislation is to prohibit the demolition of Presidential memorials. Under the bill, to "demolish" means the intentional razing, destroying, or wrecking of an entire building or structure or a substantial portion of it. Specifically, a memorial honoring a President of the United States that was designated by an Act of Congress cannot be demolished unless authorized by a subsequent Act of Congress.