Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush introduced a bill that would allow the federal government to fast-track the removal of Confederate monuments throughout the country.
Rush, a Democrat, revealed a piece of legislation that would create a program within the National Parks Service that would be responsible for facilitating the removal of all Confederate monuments from federal lands in the United States. The program, which would be called the Emancipation Historic Preservation Program, would replace Confederate monuments with monuments to emancipated slaves.
“It is past time that we eradicate these totems of treason and replace them with symbols that represent the true promise of America, such as the emancipation of black Americans,” Rush said.
“My bill, the REFUSE [Rejecting and Eliminating the Foul Use of Symbols Exulting] Confederate Principles Act would do just that by creating the Emancipation Historic Preservation program, which would provide grants for removing the false idols of the confederacy and replacing them with symbols and structures that we can actually be proud of,” he added.
The debate over Confederate monuments has been raging throughout the summer as many statues became the focal points of protests against racial injustice. Some of those protests devolved into riots that left historical monuments toppled or vandalized.
Rush noted that the Southern Poverty Law Center estimated that there are roughly 1,700 Confederate monuments in the U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for the removal of Confederate monuments from the U.S. Capitol.
