The House passed legislation Tuesday night to remove Confederate statues and artwork that are present in the U.S. Capitol.
The vote was 285-120. Sixty-seven Republicans voted with Democrats in support of the legislation while 120 Republicans voted against it. Before the vote, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy addressed his support for the resolution, saying all the statues are of Democrats and that the party should consider changing its name.
A statue of Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War, is on display in the Crypt of the U.S. Capitol June 18, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
In June 2020, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced she ordered four paintings of Speakers who served in the Confederacy to be removed from the U.S. Capitol. (RELATED: Pelosi Says She Has Demanded Confederate Speaker Paintings Be Removed From Capitol)
There are still a number of statues of men with a connection to the Confederacy on display in the Capitol. North Carolina sent a statue of Zebulon Vance to be displayed, Florida sent a statue of Edmund Kirby Smith, the last Confederate general to surrender, Alabama sent a statue of Confederate cavalryman Joseph Wheeler, South Carolina sent a statue of Wade Hampton and Georgia sent a statue of Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens. In 1931, Mississippi chose both Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate colonel James Z. George, according to The Washington Post. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Kevin McCarthy To Introduce New Legislation To Protect America’s Statues)
In 2017 Pelosi called for the monuments to be removed and asked then-Speaker of the House Paul Ryan for his support. The monuments are still standing in the Capitol.