The House on Thursday dodged an up-or-down vote on whether to to yank the flag of the state of Mississippi from some Capitol hallways, a move that comes in the wake of a deadly shooting at an historic black church in Charleston, S.C.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., has a resolution to take down a Mississippi flag hanging in a House-side hallway because it includes the Confederate insignia. But in a 240-184 vote, the House decided to refer the resolution to the House Administration Committee.
Committee Chair Candice Miller said after the vote that the panel, “will give this matter every serious consideration and every thoughtful consideration.”
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Thompson’s effort to remove the flag comes after GOP lawmakers rallied around calls to remove the Confederate flag and Confederate statues from the grounds of some Southern state capitals.
Thomson said the statues and other Confederate-related items should be moved to a museum.
“This is an opportune moment to put people in their right place … not in the Capitol,” Thompson said. “To give people a prominent place in this Capitol and they did everything they could to split away from this government is not the right thing to do.”
