The U.S. House of Representatives is ridding its hallways of state flag displays in order to avoid fights over whether banners that display parts of the Confederate flag should be removed.
In an announcement on Thursday, the House Administration Committee, which oversees the House side of the Capitol, announced the flags will not be restored to the wall of a tunnel that leads from the Capitol to the Rayburn House Office Building.
Instead, the wall will display the commemorative quarter designs for the 50 states that the U.S. Mint issued over the last decade.
Committee Chair Candice Miller, R-Mich., said the flags can remain hanging in front of member offices.
“Given the controversy surrounding Confederate imagery, I decided to install a new display,” Miller said. “I am well aware of how many Americans negatively view the Confederate flag, and, personally, I am very sympathetic to these views. However, I also believe that it is not the business of the federal government to dictate what flag each state flies. This is the ‘People’s House’ where each congressional district sends their designated representative to be their voice in the halls of Congress.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said of Miller’s move, “I support her decision.”
The confederate flag became a flashpoint last year when Democrats tried to insert language in spending bills calling for the removal of the symbols of the confederacy from the U.S. Capitol. The fight helped stall consideration of spending legislation.
State flags from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Georgia contain some symbol relating to the confederacy, while the Mississippi flag displays the Confederate battle emblem.
