GOP Senator Blocks Removal Of Confederate Statues

The Springfield News-Leader reports:

Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt moved this week to slow a push to remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol.

At issue was a bill from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., that would give the boot to 11 statues sent by states to represent them in Statuary Hall, including one of Confederate President Jefferson Davis of Mississippi.

The Democrats were attempting to pass the bill via unanimous consent, which allows a bill to pass without a formal vote if no one objects. But Blunt objected, noting the bill would end a 156-year-old agreement with states without consultation.

Fox News reports:

The bill called for the removal of all statues of individuals that voluntarily fought for the Confederacy from the U.S. Capitol building.

Currently 11 statues of Confederate generals and leaders are placed in the Capitol’s National Statuary Hall, where each state is permitted to place up to two statues of its choosing. Sen. Cory Booker said to the existence of the statues in the Capitol was a “painful, insulting, difficult injury.”

“The continued presence of these statues in the halls is an affront to African Americans and the ideals of our nation,” Booker said.