Congressional Democrats launched a new push this week to remove Confederate statues from the Capitol grounds. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called for their removal Wednesday…
Congressional Democrats launched a new push this week to remove Confederate statues from the Capitol grounds.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called for their removal Wednesday by saying the statues, donated by states, pay “homage to hate, not heritage.”
Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) introduced a bill Thursday to send the statues back to states or the Smithsonian within 120 days, and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N. J.) introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
The killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis police custody, has spurred protests around the country and galvanized efforts to take down Confederate monuments nationwide.
Eleven statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection commemorate Confederate soldiers and officials, including several in their Confederate uniforms. Democrats first pushed for their removal in 2017.
GOP lawmakers have argued that the authority to remove statues lies with the states that donated them.
“The states make that decision,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday. “I think the appropriate way to deal with this issue is to stick with the tradition.”
Here are the statues that Democrats say should be removed from the Capitol.
ALABAMA
Joseph Wheeler
After graduating from West Point, Wheeler resigned from the U. S. Army to serve as a general in the Confederate Army and was considered one of its top cavalry leaders. Wheeler later represented Alabama for eight terms as a Democrat in the House. He also led troops as general in the U. S. Army during the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War.
Alabama donated his bronze statue in 1925, which now sits in Statuary Hall. Alabama removed a statue commemorating Confederate officer Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry in 2009, replacing it with a statue of civil rights activist Helen Keller.
ARKANSAS
Uriah Milton Rose
A lawyer known for his fierce loyalty to the Confederacy, Rose served as chancellor of Pulaski County until it was captured by Union forces. He founded the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock in 1865, which later became famous for its role in the 1992 Whitewater controversy that involved former President Clinton. Rose also helped found the American Bar Association.
Now sitting in Statuary Hall, Arkansas donated Rose’s marble statue in 1925. In 2019, Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) signed legislation to replace the statues of Rose and the late Gov. James P.
