House Passes Bill to Remove Confederate Statues from Capitol

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.