Pelosi calls for removing Confederate statues from Capitol

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is demanding that statues of Confederate figures such as Jefferson Davis be removed from U.S. Capitol.

In a letter, Pelosi told a House-Senate committee with jurisdiction over controversial topic that Confederate statues “pay hom to hate, t herit. y must be removed.”

California Democrat me anuncement on very day President Donald Trump vowed on Twitter that he would t rename military bases horing Confederate generals. Only a short time before Pelosi’s statement, NASCAR anunced it would ban displays of Confederate flag at its races.

Confederate monuments have reemerged as a national flash point since death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes. Protesters decrying racism have targeted Confederate monuments in multiple cities, and some state officials are considering taking m down.

Pelosi lacks authority to order removal of 11 Capitol statues horing Confederates but is urging little-ticed Joint Committee on Library to vote to remove m. Senate Republicans share jurisdiction.

“ statues in Capitol should embody our highest ideals as Americans, expressing who we are and who we aspire to be as a nation,” Pelosi wrote. “Monuments to men who vocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end are a grotesque affront to se ideals.”

presence of statues of generals and or figures of Confederacy in Capitol locations such as Statuary Hall — original House chamber — has been offensive to African American lawmakers for many years. But it’s up to states to determine which of ir historical figures to display.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., top Democrat on library panel, called for an immediate vote to remove statues.