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Tag: national statuary hall
Rep. Ralph Norman

Republicans Fighting To Keep Confederate Statuary In Capitol

Reprinted with permission from American independent

A bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to remove monuments to prominent racists and Confederate traitors from display in the U.S. Capitol. But a group of 12 House Republicans wants to give a state's congressional delegation the authority to veto the removal of its home state's statues.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) filed a bill on Tuesday to "prohibit the removal of a statue provided by a State for display in National Statuary Hall unless two-thirds of the members of the State's congressional delegation approve the removal."

Republican Reps. Brian Babin (TX), Mo Brooks (AL), Ted Budd (NC), Rick Crawford (AR), Jeff Duncan (SC), Matt Gaetz (FL), Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA), Kevin Hern (OK), Doug LaMalfa (CA), Thomas Massie (KY), and Steve Womack (AR) are original co-sponsors.

Under current rules, each state may select two statues of its own notable historical figures to be displayed in the National Statuary Hall Collection. The 100 statues are displayed in National Statuary Hall and other locations throughout the Capitol building.

Current honorees include Thomas Edison, Dwight Eisenhower, Helen Keller, Ronald Reagan, Will Rogers, Sakakawea (also known as Sacagawea), and George Washington. But they also include several former Confederate leaders and prominent racists, such as white supremacist and former North Carolina Gov. Charles Brantley Aycock, slavery defender and former Vice President John Caldwell Calhoun of South Carolina, and white supremacist and former Arkansas Sen. James Paul Clarke.

H.R. 3005, which passed in the House by a vote of 285-120, would require those states that currently display statues honoring individuals who voluntarily served the Confederate States of America to remove and replace them. It would also require removal of the statues of Aycock, Calhoun, and Clarke.

Norman and his 11 co-sponsors of H.R. 4234 were among the 120 representatives, all Republicans, who voted against the bill.

Though those voting yes included House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Minority Whip Steve Scalise, and 65 other Republicans, Brooks railed againstH.R. 3005 in a press statement titled "CONGRESSMAN MO BROOKS DEFENDS STATES' RIGHTS, RIPS INTOLERANT SOCIALISTS WHO SEEK TO TAKE DOWN CAPITOL STATUES THEY DON'T LIKE."

"Just as it would be wrong for Alabama and other states to dictate to New York and California who they must honor, it is similarly wrong and repulsive for New York, California, or other states to dictate to Alabama who we must honor," Brooks said. "I reject cancel culture and historical revisionism. ... Alabama, not New Yorkers, Californians, or anyone else, should decide who we wish to honor in Alabama's contribution to the National Statuary Collection. Socialist Democrat states should butt out!"

Brooks, Budd, Crawford, Duncan, Gaetz, Greene, Norman, and Womack each represent states whose statues would have to be removed should the Senate pass the bill and President Joe Biden sign it.

But if Norman's proposal passed, a 34 percent minority of a single state's delegation could block the removal of a statue, subverting majority rule in the House and even within the delegation itself.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

Goldwater Statue, Created For National Statuary Hall, Is Stranded In Phoenix

Goldwater Statue, Created For National Statuary Hall, Is Stranded In Phoenix

By Rachel Lund, Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX — Arizona state officials in March unveiled an 8-foot bronze statue of the late U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater that will represent the state at the National Statuary Hall in Washington.

Months later, visitors to the old State Capitol still see the statue looming over the state seal in the rotunda.

Those raising money to create and ship the statue say they need $65,000 or so more, not only to get it to Washington, but also to bring home the statue it will replace. And the state lawmaker who shepherded the legislation calling for Goldwater’s likeness to replace one of mining executive John Campbell Greenway said officials at the U.S. Capitol have been slow to schedule a date for the statue’s unveiling.

State Librarian Joan Clark, who is part of the effort, said she has enjoyed having the statue here.

“It has been nice that the people of Arizona have been able to enjoy it since late March when we installed it,” Clark said. “But now it is time for Barry Goldwater to go to D.C. and be appreciated on a national level.”

Ted Hale, deputy director of the Arizona State Library, said he and others will take the next step when fundraising is complete.

“Right now we could almost afford to send him to D.C.,” he said. “But we aren’t anywhere near getting Mr. Greenway back.”

Hale said he and others have done all they can to raise the money, including fundraisers, involving the Goldwater family and offering 2-foot replicas of the statue to those who contribute $10,000 or more.

“We haven’t ruled out garage sales and swap meets either — any way we can to get him there,” Hale said.

State Sen. Adam Driggs said: “The real reason it is taking so long is waiting for the Architect of the Capitol and House Speaker (John) Boehner to give us a date. Once we get a date, it will facilitate the last push.”

Laura Condeluci, a spokeswoman for the Architect of the Capitol, said via email that she couldn’t respond immediately to a request for comment on Driggs’ concerns.

In 2008, Driggs sponsored legislation to add Goldwater to the National Statuary Hall collection, where each state is represented by two statues. Arizona’s other statue is of the Rev. Eusebio F. Kino, the Jesuit priest who established missions during the 17th century.

Driggs said he and others consider Goldwater a better representation of Arizona’s modern history than Greenway, whose statue has stood in the hall since 1930.

By federal law none of the money for the statue can come from public funds, Clark said.

Deborah Copenhaver Fellows, the creator of the Goldwater statue, said she doesn’t think the average Arizonan understands this.

“I cannot tell you the number of people who have come into my studio in the last 24 months who have said, ‘I met him. I remember him. He was wonderful. He is what we need now.’ I mean he is just like a hero in Arizona,” she said.

“I was always of the opinion that if you would let John Q Public know that he’s the one that’s going to send it Washington, D.C., it would work,” she said. “I’m just really surprised that the fundraising wasn’t more efficient.”

Photo via WikiCommons

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