House Passes Bill to Remove Confederate Statues from Capitol
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The U.S. House passed a bill Tuesday that would remove statues of figures from history associated with the Confederacy, slavery or racism. The legislation would remove several statues of Confederate leaders currently displayed in the U.S. Capitol under the National Statuary Hall Collection; it would also replace a bust of Roger B. Taney with Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court justice. The bill garnered a 285-120 bipartisan vote in favor, with 67 Republicans joining all Democrats present. Some GOP members said the removal process should the responsibility of individual states; each state is allowed to put two statues in the U.S. Capitol. The House voted to remove the statues last year, but the bill stalled in the then-Republican led Senate. House Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not yet said whether he will bring up the bill, though House Democrats say it is likely.
The story received wide coverage from across the political spectrum. Some coverage from left-rated sources framed the statues as more problematic than coverage from right-rated sources did.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Center
House passes bill to remove Confederate statues from CapitolThe House passed legislation on Tuesday that would remove artwork from the Capitol that honors people with legacies of defending slavery, including by serving the Confederacy.
The 285-120 vote was bipartisan, but it split Republicans. A minority of 67 Republicans joined with all Democrats in support, while 120 voted against it.
“We ought not to forget history. We must learn from history. But we ought not to honor that which defiled the principles for which we think we stand,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the bill’s primary author. “It's time to...
From the Left
House votes to remove Confederate statues and replace Roger B. Taney bustThe House passed a resolution Tuesday to expel Confederate statues from the US Capitol and replace its bust of Roger B. Taney, the chief justice who wrote the Dred Scott decision, with one honoring Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court justice.
The vote was 285 to 120. Sixty-seven Republicans voted with 218 Democrats in support of the bill.
The House passed a similar resolution last year on a bipartisan basis but it stalled after Republicans in the Senate argued that the states should decide which statues they'd like to display in the...
From the Right
House votes to sweep out Capitol statues deemed offensiveThe House voted to remove the bust of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney and several other statues associated with the Confederacy or racism.
Democrats have been determined to rid the building of statues memorializing long-dead dignitaries who held racist viewpoints, a goal realized in Tuesday's vote of 285-120. Sixty-seven Republicans voted with all Democrats present, but many GOP members said the removal process should be left to the states, which are each allowed to place two statues in the Capitol.
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