The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to remove statues of Confederate leaders and generals from Capitol Hill, The New York Times reports.
The House voted 305-113 in favor of the measure, with only Republicans voting against it.
The vote came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi already ordered the removal of four speakers’ portraits because they served the Confederacy.
“These painful symbols of bigotry and racism — they have no place in our society, and certainly should not be enshrined in the United States Capitol,” said California Democrat Barbara Lee, who co-sponsored the bill. “It’s past time that we end the glorification of men who committed treason against the United States in a concerted effort to keep African-Americans in chains.”
Statues include former vice presidents:
The bill would require the removal of “all statues of individuals who voluntarily served.”
That includes former Vice President John Calhoun and former Vice President John Breckinridge, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, and former governors and senators.
Each state is permitted to send two statues to the Capitol for display but Congressional leaders have the right to replace them.
Bill likely dead in the Senate:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not expected to allow the bill to come to a vote in the Senate, calling it “clearly a bridge too far” and an attempt to “airbrush the Capitol.”
McConnell argued that states should decide which statues are featured.
But 72 House Republicans voted in favor of the bill.
“The history of this nation is so fraught with racial division, with hatred,” said Michigan Republican Paul Mitchell. “The only way to overcome that is to recognize that, acknowledge it for what it is.”
