Transcript of Pelosi, House Democrats Press Conference Today on Resolution to Remove Any State Flag Containing Confederate Battle Flag from Capitol
Contact: Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616
Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Members of the House Democratic Caucus held a press conference today on Leader Pelosi's privileged resolution to remove any state flag containing the Confederate battle flag from the United States Capitol. Below is a transcript of Leader Pelosi's opening and closing statements, as well as a question and answer session:
Leader Pelosi's Opening Remarks
"Good afternoon, everyone. Today, we had action on the floor – I presented a privileged resolution, which really captured the initiative put forth by Congressman Bennie Thompson two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, on June 25th, that resolution was referred to the Committee on House Administration, never to be heard from again. That's intolerable. So today, I put forth, in essence, Mr. Thompson's similar resolution, and that was referred to the Committee on House Administration. It has to be dealt with, though, expeditiously – we hope. But we shall see.
"In the meantime, I had a parliamentary inquiry to ask: tell Members, what is the status of Mr. Bennie Thompson's resolution of two weeks ago? And they were not prepared. The Chair said he couldn't tell us anything about that. So here we are, on the 147th anniversary of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law. Here we are, on a day when the state of South Carolina, by an act of the legislature and the signature of the Governor, will be taking down the flag. The House of Representatives – the Republicans in the House of Representatives are voting down any discussion, even of Confederate Battle Flags in the Capitol of the United States.
"I couldn't be prouder of our Members. This is a matter of values, of principle, of who we are as Americans. And I want to acknowledge their great leadership. And in doing so, I want to yield to our distinguished Assistant Leader, Mr. Clyburn, and thank him for the inspiration he has been to our nation, especially in the last few weeks – and to extend our sympathies for the losses he has suffered in his state and in his district, and thank him for his leadership on this and so many other issues in the Congress of the United States. Mr. Clyburn."
Leader Pelosi's Closing Remarks:
"Thank you, Mr. Butterfield. I think it is important to note that, as we are talking about this – the coincidences of time are just remarkable. On the very day of the 147th anniversary of the 14th amendment; on the very day that South Carolina will have the bill signed to take down the flag; on that very day, the Republicans had to take down their appropriations bill.
"And it's important to note this: the reason they proposed – the Republicans proposed the Calvert amendment last night was because, as their Chairman, Mr. Rogers, said, they feared losing one hundred of their Members because of the Jeffries-Huffman amendments. Is that remarkable? One hundred of their Members would vote against the bill, as Congresswoman McCollum, the Ranking Member on the Committee said, the bill wasn't bad enough for them. They needed something worse – not only pollution and all the rest of it, and special interests, but they needed hatred in the bill as well. So that's what's interesting.
"So we have this conversation with you here for one reason: we weren't able to speak on the floor. It's highly unusual for a privileged resolution offered by the Leader of one of the parties on the floor to be denied any – not one minute of debate. They yielded back all of their time, because they were afraid. They were afraid of what our colleagues said here. But I tell you, they were more afraid about what those 100 Members of Congress might come to the floor and say in defense of the Calvert Amendment.
"So here we are, on this day of so many coincidences. And let me say: I don't paint the South with the brush of those 100 Members on the Republican side. Many patriotic Americans throughout the South fought under the American flag in many wars in our country. Patriotism lives there, as well. So this is not about them. It's about us, and who we are, and how committed we are to when we take that oath – ‘I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America' – and, as Mr. Clyburn, said: ‘one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice' – justice – ‘for all.' And that's what we want right now: justice for all. So, any of my colleagues – I'm so pleased to have so many of our colleagues here, who would be a resource in answering any of the questions you may have.
***
Leader Pelosi. Yes, ma'am?
Q: Leader Pelosi, Speaker Boehner said at his news conference earlier that he wanted a bipartisan conversation, a formal bipartisan group, to talk about Congressional response to the Confederate flag. Can you describe, I'm eager to hear others as well, but Leader Pelosi, can you describe whether you had conversations with Speaker Boehner?
Leader Pelosi. No, I haven't had any conversations about it. But what is it that you have to study? Do you have to study hatred and its manifestation in the Confederate flag? This is simple. It's about time and all of this is two weeks since June 25. Now they're referring my resolution to committee. And now they want to set up a commission. Let's not wait one more minute to take down that flag in the Capitol.
Chairman Butterfield. Well, first I associate myself with the words of the Leader and she's absolutely correct. I recall President Obama's eulogy at Senator Pinckney's funeral and he addressed the question of whether we need to continue to have the conversation. The answer to that is ‘no.' We need action. We have had this conversation for 150 years now, and now it's time for thoughtful people to do what President Abraham Lincoln did at the end of the Civil War, and that was to take decisive action and to try to rid this country of white supremacy and bigotry and hatred. And so no, I do not support the idea of a commission. The time for talking and having a conversation is over and I think it's time for action. The House of Representatives needs to act immediately.
Leader Pelosi. Yes, ma'am?
Q: What does it say to you about the Republican Party? Do you feel that they just don't get it? They don't get that this is an offensive symbol? That they don't care? And also, separately, what's the next step? I mean, you can't force a vote on these privileged resolutions, correct?
Leader Pelosi. Well, "Public sentiment is everything," Abraham Lincoln. And with public sentiment you can accomplish almost anything – without it, nothing. And we believe that public sentiment will come to bear and they will be waving a white flag soon on the Republican side in order to end this issue of taking down the Confederate Battle Flag. I think you can make your own judgment about a party that says: ‘We will lose 100 of our members on the Appropriations bill if we have legislation in there that limits the opportunity for people to buy the Confederate flag.'
Anybody else want to speak to that?
You have a question? Yes?
Q: Do you support under any circumstances, even in a very limited way, time to history on the Confederate memorial day, could there ever be a time in the future where the flag could be in a confined way displayed?
Congressman Bennie Thompson. Well, the privileged resolution spoke to putting it in museums or localities where other artifacts of history are held. So, there's no way of trying to push it off, but the question is: it needs to be in its rightful place. And where those symbols are now, according to my privileged resolution, is not the right place.
Q: And what about your own state flag? Where should that be in the conversation now?
Congressman Bennie Thompson. Well, I brought it for you to look at it. There's not much difference between the Confederate Battle Flag symbol that is being taken down in South Carolina and my state flag, and it is a major issue for a lot of people around this country. Some of my colleagues really paid attention to it for the first time and they jumped when they saw it because of the symbol. And I think what we're trying to do and I'm trying to say even to my people back home: ‘We can do better.' The good thing is, our two Republican United States Senators have said that we need to change it. For that very same reason, hopefully we can get enough reason without situations like South Carolina happening to get a change.
Leader Pelosi. One more question. Yes, sir?
Q: Just looking again at the resolution, are you calling for the removal of the Mississippi State Flag? And there are some other flags that seemed to be influenced by the Confederate Battle Flag such as Florida and other states of that nature or are you just looking for Mississippi?
Congressman Bennie Thompson. Well, my resolution only speaks to Mississippi Battle Flag – Confederate Battle Flag in its present form and any of those other symbols or artifacts. But it speaks specifically to the flag because there are certain areas where we fly it and it gave an out to those Members from Mississippi who choose to fly it in front of their offices. We respect that. but there are certain other areas on the House side where we fly it. Now, I clearly think that's inappropriate.
Leader Pelosi. Thank you all very much, and I thank my colleagues and I thank all of you for being here. As I said, we couldn't speak on the floor but we will. And I want to thank Betty McCollum as well because she was the linchpin of all of this last night for catching what they were doing in the appropriations bill. Thank you, Betty McCollum. Thank you all.
# # #