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Floor Speech
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Mr. KAINE. Madam President, today, I am introducing legislation to remove ``Robert E. Lee Memorial'' from the official name of Arlington House.
This legislation is partially inspired by requests from descendants of General Robert E. Lee and people who were enslaved at Arlington House. This is an effort to promote a society that is more just and equitable for all, regardless of race, by moving on from a public symbol that honors a figure that fought to protect slavery.
Arlington House is the first name of the historic mansion, which sits on Federal land within Arlington National Cemetery. The property is administered by the National Park Service and overlooks the Potomac River and the Nation's Capital. The house was built by Martha Custis Washington's grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, as the Nation's first memorial to George Washington. Later, his daughter married Robert E. Lee and the couple lived in the home until the Civil War, when Federal forces occupied the house and surrounding property. During that period, the site was chosen to serve as a national military cemetery in part to prevent Lee from returning.
Only in the 20th century, in 1955 and again in 1972, did Congress add the commemorative text honoring Robert E. Lee to the site's formal name in Federal statute. This was part of a retrograde effort across the former Confederacy to bestow public recognition on prominent Confederate figures as heroes while minimizing or whitewashing their roles in taking up arms against the United States to preserve slavery. As Senator from the State that has among the most difficult histories when it comes to slavery, civil rights, and Confederate monuments, I believe these symbolic proposals matter, that the Federal Government should reserve honorifics for individuals whose lives advanced American values and ideals, not detracted from them.
Today, the National Park Service is dedicated to telling the story of those who were enslaved at the Arlington House. I am hopeful that this name change will help to do just a little bit more to encapsulate the full history of the site, which included the presence of many families and generations throughout history, such as the Syphax, Burke, Parks, and Gray families.
I am pleased that companion legislation is also being introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by my colleague, Representative Don Beyer, who has led this effort for years.
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