Replacement of Bust of Roger Brooke Taney with Bust of Thurgood Marshall
Floor Speech
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Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, Republicans and Democrats agree that racism, in any shape or form, is repugnant and must be denounced. I do intend to vote for this bill, as I did last summer, when Congress considered a similar measure.
It is interesting, however, that our colleagues across the aisle have only recently deemed the cause of removing statues worthy of immediate action. When you look at the facts, it is even more puzzling.
Since 1870, statues have been present in the United States Capitol, and Democrats retained a majority in the House 40 times since then. They have had ample opportunities to remove these statues that Members of their own party are responsible for placing in the Capitol in the first place, but have done nothing.
Again, the timing here is rather peculiar. After retaining the majority 40 times, one would think that if this were truly a pressing issue, they would have acted sooner.
For many years, I have advocated that North Carolina's statues of Charles Aycock and Zebulon Vance be removed based on their ties to the Confederacy. I have suggested that two statues of people that all North Carolinians and all Americans can be proud of be put in their place.
I am proud that the first Republican majority in North Carolina's Legislature in 140 years voted in 2015 to replace the Aycock statue with a statue of Reverend Billy Graham. Yet this request has been awaiting action by the Democrat-chaired Joint Committee on the Library for months. If they were truly concerned about removing these statues, they might be quicker to act on the requests to replace some of the very same statues.
I will look past the times the North Carolina Democrat Party used Governor Aycock's name in fundraising materials and the meetings they held in buildings that sported his name. Maybe today's vote is to compensate for the decades of inaction under a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. We will let the American people decide.
Republicans are always open for a spirited debate on this issue, and I am confident that we can find common ground.
While I plan to support this legislation and recognize its underlying intent, this is an issue that is way past its due date.
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