What do Samuel Adams, Henry Clay, Jefferson Davis, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Sam Houston, Robert E. Lee, King Kamehameha I, Robert La Follette, Will Rogers, Sacagawea, George Washington, Daniel Webster, Brigham Young, Florence Sabin and John L. "Jack" Swigert have in common?

All are represented by statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol.

This collection is comprised of statues donated by each state to honor persons "illustrious for their historic renown or for a distinguished civic or military service such as each state may deem worthy of national admiration" (as set forth in an act of Congress).

The collection consists of 100 statutes, two per state. The first was given in 1875 and the most recent in 2005. The states are allowed to select whomever they would like, and about the only requirements are that the statue be made of bronze or marble, be no taller than 7 feet and that the person be deceased.

Colorado's contributions to Statuary Hall are Florence Sabin (1959) and Jack Swigert (1997).

Sabin is one of only eight women in the collection. She was chosen because of her pioneering efforts in public health care. "Sabin's Health Laws" revolutionized and modernized the state's public health system in the 1940s.

She was one of the first women graduates of the Johns Hopkins Medical School - long acknowledged as the finest in the country - and she was the first woman to be a professor at the school.

Swigert attended Regis Jesuit High School, East High School and the University of Colorado, where he was a football standout. He was an Air Force combat pilot in Korea and then one of the few civilians accepted into the NASA space program, where he was the commander of the fabled Apollo 13 mission. He was the first person elected to represent the newly created 6th Congressional District in 1982, but unfortunately died of cancer before he could take office.

A statue in Statuary Hall does not have to be forever. In 2000, Congress passed a law at the request of Kansas that allows statues to be changed. Dwight D. Eisenhower replaced George Washington Glick in 2003 as one of Kansas' representatives. California will soon donate a statue of Ronald Reagan to replace that of Thomas Star King.

A selection should be for the ages, not of the moment.

Colorado might wish to reconsider its representatives. Sabin made an important impact throughout the state by improving basic health standards and this was distinguished civic service. Swigert was as an astronaut and served in the military.

Are they the best representatives from our state to have the honor of having a statue in the U.S. Capitol? What about another University of Colorado football player who had an enormous impact on his state and his country - United States Supreme Court Justice Bryon "Whizzer" White? Another person to be considered could be former Gov. Ralph Carr, who some have named the "Person of The (20th) Century," for his efforts defending the rights of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

To change a statue, the governor and the legislature would have to be agree, and they could appoint a commission to review the statues and to make recommendations.

Robert Duncan is a lawyer in Denver.