Replacement of Bust of Roger Brooke Taney with Bust of Thurgood Marshall

Floor Speech

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, in her opening remarks, the gentlewoman quoted Maya Angelou earlier. And since Maya Angelou spent her childhood in my district in Arkansas, I wholeheartedly agree with the words of Maya Angelou that we can do better.

But I am not convinced that H.R. 3005 is actually doing better. Madam Speaker, this bill would remove all statues from the U.S. Capitol of individuals who voluntarily served in the Confederate Army or, it appears, who are now otherwise deemed by Democrats as racist and unfit for any type of honor.

One of the statues named for removal is James Paul Clarke, a Democrat from Arkansas, who served as a U.S. Senator and the 18th Governor of Arkansas. His statue was placed in the Capitol by Democrat majorities in both the Arkansas House and Senate.

The Speaker might be interested to learn that the Republican Arkansas State legislature voted in 2019 to replace James Paul Clarke and its other statue, which depicts Uriah Rose. Speaker Pelosi is already familiar Uriah Rose. You see, last year, on June 10, Speaker Pelosi sent a letter to the Joint Committee on the Library requesting it remove 11 statues which depict Confederate soldiers and officials, which she says involves Uriah Rose.

Uriah Rose was an Arkansas attorney, who was a founder and two-time president of the American Bar Association. Uriah Rose also founded the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, at which Hillary Clinton began her legal career and became the firm's first female partner.

The Speaker will be pleased to know that neither Uriah Rose nor James Paul Clarke were commissioned into the Confederate Army. Uriah Rose never fought for the Confederacy, and James Paul Clarke was 7 years old when the Civil War began.

However, following the established procedures for placing statues in the Capitol, Arkansas has recognized racist beliefs held at least by the Democrat Governor and Senator James Clarke and, in 2019, began the process of replacing our two statues with those who have made significant, meaningful contributions to Arkansas and our Nation: Country music legend Johnny Cash and civil rights activist Daisy Bates.

Madam Speaker, every State can follow that process. Many have and many are. Daisy Bates was a civil rights activist who was an unstoppable force during the desegregation of Arkansas, and I am proud that Arkansas chose her as one of the statues to replace James Paul Clarke and Uriah Rose.

Daisy Bates was instrumental in securing safe entry into Little Rock Central High School for the ``Little Rock Nine'' in September of 1957, one of the first high schools in Arkansas to integrate following the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954.

Arkansas has been working with the Architect of the Capitol and the Joint Committee on the Library to replace these statues for 2\1/2\ years, complying with every step in the process.

H.R. 3005 also names other statues, such as Charles Brantley Aycock, a Democrat from North Carolina who did not serve in the Confederate Army, but has racist ties, who North Carolina has been trying to replace with Reverend Billy Graham since 2015.

This bill naming statues that are in the process of being replaced is nothing more than what I believe is an attempt by Democrats to prematurely thwart the authority of States in order to claim the moral high ground for themselves. If Democrats were serious about cleansing the U.S. Capitol of statues depicting those with racist views, Speaker Pelosi would insist the Joint Committee on the Library make it a top priority to work with Arkansas and North Carolina to expedite the replacement of these statues that are already in process.

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I am glad to hear the gentlewoman is going to work to see the Billy Graham statue is quickly added, and I ask that she does the same for Arkansas statues of Johnny Cash and Daisy Bates.

Madam Speaker, we don't need a do-nothing messaging bill from Democrats. We don't need another nanny-state mandate from House Democrats telling States what they need to do. What we need is a get- something-done attitude and real leadership, and these statues will be gone out of the Capitol.

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