Republicans and Democrats voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to banish the statue of former Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee as well as 15 other figures on display inside the U.S. Capitol that are deemed racially insensitive.
Democrats began angling to remove Confederate statues from the Capitol in June as civil unrest unfolded across the country following the death of George Floyd in police custody. But Democrats faced resistance from GOP members of the congressional panel that oversees the collection. The law authorizes only the states that commissioned the statues to remove them, Republicans said.
The bill passed Wednesday would supersede state authority and require the Capitol architect to remove from public view the 11 Confederate statues plus four additional statues of men who promoted white supremacy. The measure would also banish a bust of Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney, who authored the 1857 Dred Scott decision that deemed enslaved Americans were not U.S. citizens. The bill calls for Taney to be replaced with a bust of Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court justice.
All Democrats voting supported the measure, while more than 110 Republicans voted against it.
The statues are on display in different parts of the Capitol, including Statuary Hall, the Capitol Visitors Center, and the Senate hallways. The list includes Lee, former Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and other historical figures who supported slavery or racist policies.
Democrats made the case Wednesday that the mood of the nation regarding racial injustice has implored them to act to remove the figures, some of which have been standing in the Capitol for a century. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, some descendants of enslaved Americans, led the debate on the House floor.
“For those of us who are sons of the South, those of us who have endured hardship, discrimination, and a lot of things that are very difficult to even talk about, for this moment in time where we are today, where we are going to start the process of healing and setting the record straight as it relates to the real history of this country, it is fitting and proper that those individuals who fought to keep many of our ancestors enslaved should not have to be recognized in a place where people who do good expect to be recognized,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat and co-author of the measure to remove the statues, said.
Republicans said they supported removing the statues but argued against simply destroying likenesses of historical figures in the way that protesters have done across the country in recent weeks.
“We need to recognize those things as part of our history in order to move on beyond them,” said Rep. Paul Mitchell, a Michigan Republican. “To not recognize or understand our history runs a very real risk of reliving it.”
Rep. Rodney Davis, an Illinois Republican, urged GOP lawmakers to vote along with Democrats to pass the measure.
But Republicans also warned that removing statues may not end with the batch of 16 offensive figures and could extend to other historical figures who are deemed unpopular.
The measure would remove statues of John C. Calhoun and John Cabell Breckinridge, who both served as vice president but were slavery proponents.
“We have had some absolutely terrible vice presidents throughout our history,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, a California Republican. “I’m sure we will in the future. But if we are going to start down that road, we are going to be swapping out statues like trading cards at the whim of the moment. Our nation’s history should be made of sterner stuff.”
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat behind the effort to remove Taney, said there is no reason to keep the statues on display.
“The statues we choose to set in place of honor are a reflection of the present, not the past,” Hoyer said.
