Department of the interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Chairman, the tragic shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, has forced a national conversation about symbols like the Confederate battle flag that represent racism, slavery, and division.

Now, like you, I applaud leaders in South Carolina and other Southern States, both Democrat and Republican, who have called on their States to end the display of the Confederate flag on government property, including State houses and license plates. With the consideration of the Interior Appropriations bill, this House now has an opportunity to add its voice by ending the promotion of the cruel, racist legacy of the Confederacy.

The National Park Service has asked its gift shops, bookstores, and other concessionaires to voluntarily end the sale of standalone items, such as flags, pins, and belt buckles that contain imagery of the Confederate flag. While many concessionaires have agreed to do this, I am dismayed by reports that some will continue to sell items with Confederate flag imagery. This amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill would end these sales. It would prevent the National Park Service from allowing the continued promotion of the Confederacy through these symbols.

Major American retailers like Walmart, Amazon, and eBay are already taking their own steps to ban sales of this type of merchandise, and we now have an obligation to ensure that the Federal agencies that we oversee act with the same moral clarity.

Mr. Chairman, with that, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Chairman, I support this amendment which will ensure that no funds are spent on activities that are not in compliance with the President's executive order on greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency and the 2013 executive order on climate change adaptation.

These orders require agencies to simply take global warming into account when making decisions. This will save taxpayers lots of money while making our communities safer and cleaner.

Fighting climate change has to be regarded as the biggest imperative of our time.

[Time: 18:15]

My State of California has stepped up to this issue and taken important bold steps to confront it, including passing Assembly Bill 32, the world's most aggressive greenhouse gas reduction policy. At the Federal level, President Obama's efforts, through these orders, are critical steps toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and addressing climate change.

Ensuring compliance with these measures is the least we can do on this critical issue; and, frankly, we should be doing much more. So I urge my colleagues to support the gentleman from Virginia's (Mr. Beyer) amendment and continue this effort to combat climate change.

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