Cory Booker: “I rise today to discuss the Confederate monuments that are in our hallowed Halls of Congress. I would like to make a…”

“I rise today to discuss the Confederate monuments that are in our hallowed Halls of Congress. I would like to make a live UC request, but preceding that request, I want to make just a few very brief remarks. The National Statuary Hall, where these Confederate statues are in the Capitol, is intended to honor the highest ideals of our Nation. It is intended to honor the spirit of our country and those who exhibited this spirit with heroism, with courage, and with distinction. It is a rare honor that every State gets to pick two people, out of the entire history of the country, who so exemplify the values, the spirit, and the honor of America. There are only 100 statues--just 100 statues--two from every State. Between 1901 and 1931, 12--12--Confederate statues were placed in the National Statuary Hall, that hallowed hall. During the vast majority of that same period, from 1901 through 1929, after a vicious period of voter suppression and violence against African-American voters and a stripping de facto of their rights, and often de jure, not a single African American served in either of the Congress. In fact, the exact same year the first Confederate statue was placed in the Capitol, 1901, was also the year that the last African-American person would serve in Congress for almost 30 years--almost 70 from just the South. This is a period that we don't teach enough about in our country.…”