John Yarmuth: “Last night in the South Carolina Legislature, we saw Democrats and Republicans join together to take down the…”

“Last night in the South Carolina Legislature, we saw Democrats and Republicans join together to take down the Confederate battle flag, many with tears in their eyes and still grieving the nine lives lost in Charleston. While the people of South Carolina move one step past this terrible tragedy, many House Republicans want to take our Nation 150 years back. We were scheduled to vote on the Interior Appropriations bill today. The bill was pulled because Members on the other side of the aisle objected to banning the display and sale of the Confederate flags at national park facilities. For years, I have heard all the arguments from those who defend the display of the Confederate battle flag, but it is moral cowardice to ignore this flag's history of White supremacy and treason, to pretend it symbolizes anything other than a heritage of hate and human oppression. The Confederate battle flag does not belong atop our State capitols, and it certainly should not be sold or displayed at our national parks. It belongs in a museum of shame, alongside the other relics of hate and division that tore our country apart. ____________________”