House Approves Bill to Destroy American History at the D.C. Capitol
Jose Nino
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On July 22, 2020, the House passed legislation to take down statues of individuals who served in the Confederacy or allegedly defended slavery.
The legislation was passed by a 305-113 vote. All of the “no” votes came from GOP elected officials, while 72 Republicans voted to take down the statues.
“Just imagine what it feels like as an African American to know that my ancestors built the Capitol, but yet there are monuments to the very people that enslaved my ancestors,” congresswoman Karen Bass, the leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, commented before the vote took place.
The vote was bipartisan but did divide Republicans. More than half voted against the legislation. Leading House Republicans such as Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise supported the bill, while congresswoman Liz Cheney voted against the bill.
Leftists have long clamored for the removal of Confederate monuments. “Let’s continue to correct the division that exists today, not just on this floor, but in this country. And if we can stand together in this instance, we can surely stand together and make this country, at a time in places of civil unrest, a better place for every single American,” remarked Congressman Rodney Davis, the leading Republican on the House Administration Committee who emphasized how he represents Abraham Lincoln’s home district.
The legislation mandated the removal of the 11 Confederate statues in the Capitol complex that make up the National Statuary Hall collection.
The bill that was passed on July 22 would order the removal of Confederate statues from public display. From there, they would either be donated to the Smithsonian or returned to the states that offered them to the National Statuary Hall Collection.
The legislation would also carry out the replacement of a bust of the former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney. The former Supreme Court Chief Justice became infamous for authoring the 1857 Dred Scott ruling. His bust was replaced with the one of Thurgood Marshall, America’s first African American Supreme Court justice.
The Hill reported on other monument removals contained in this bill:
In addition, the bill instructs the Joint Committee on the Library, which oversees the placement of artwork in the Capitol, to remove specific depictions of other figures with histories of advocating for white supremacy: Charles Aycock, who served as North Carolina governor; John C. Calhoun, the former vice president and member of Congress; James Paul Clarke, a former senator and governor of Arkansas; and John Breckinridge, the former vice president and senator from Kentucky who was expelled from the Senate after joining the Confederate army.
Although elected officials lack the power to unilaterally take down the statues, they can still decide where to place them in the Capitol.
The Hill highlighted some of Nancy Pelosi’s efforts to rearrange monuments:
During her first stint as Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) moved a statue from Virginia of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate army commander, from a prominent place steps from the Capitol rotunda to a floor below in a room known as the Crypt.
But Pelosi hasn’t stopped with her desire to tamper with American history:
Pelosi has since taken further action to rid the Capitol of artwork honoring people who served the Confederacy. Last month, she ordered the removal of four portraits displayed outside the House chamber of former Speakers who held high-ranking leadership positions in the Confederacy or enlisted in its army.
Indeed, the radical Left has been denied the ability to fully see its radical vision of historical destruction through.
However, they’ll take whatever they can get. The Right cannot afford to lose these battles of the Culture War.
The Left has simply dominated for too long.
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