2021: Fitzpatrick Voted Against Removing Confederate Monuments From
The U.S. Capitol. In July 2021, Fitzpatrick voted against the
Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2022 which would, according to
Congressional Quarterly, "authorize legislative branch agencies to hire
individuals with employment authorization under the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals program; require the AOC to remove from public spaces
in the Capitol all Confederate statues and busts, as well as those
representing former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, Vice
President John C. Calhoun, and others." The vote was on passage. The
House passed the bill by a vote of 215-207. [House Vote 239,
7/28/21; Congressional
Quarterly, 7/28/21;
Congressional Actions, H.R.
4346]
2021: Fitzpatrick Voted To Remove The Bust Of Former Chief Justice
Roger Taney From The Old Supreme Court Chamber And All Confederate
Monuments From The Capitol, And To Prohibit Confederate Monuments In The
U.S. Capitol. In June 2021, Fitzpatrick voted for a bill which would,
according to Congressional Quarterly, "direct the Architect of the
Capitol to remove from the Old Supreme Court Chamber the bust of former
Chief Justice Roger Taney, who wrote the majority opinion in the 1857
case Dred Scott v. Sanford declaring African Americans ineligible for
U.S. citizenship, within 45 days of enactment. It would require the AOC
to replace the Taney bust with one of former Justice Thurgood Marshall,
the first African American Supreme Court justice, within two years of
enactment. It would modify existing requirements related to statues in
the National Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol to prohibit the display
of statutes commemorating individuals who voluntarily served the
Confederacy or the government of a state in rebellion against the U.S.
and require the AOC to identify and remove any such statues from public
display within 120 days of enactment. It would also direct the AOC to
remove from the Capitol, within 45 days of enactment, any other
Confederate statues or busts in public areas, as well as the statues of
three individuals who vocally defended slavery or white supremacy --
former Vice President John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, North Carolina
Gov. Charles B. Aycock and Arkansas Gov. James P. Clarke. It would
authorize such sums as necessary to carry out the bill's provisions."
The vote was on passage. The House passed the bill by a vote of 285-120.
[House Vote 196,
6/29/21; Congressional
Quarterly, 6/29/21;
Congressional Actions, H.R.
3005]
2020: Fitzpatrick Voted To Ban Statues Of Confederate Soldiers At The
Capital Building. In July 2020, Fitzpatrick voted for a bill that
would, according to Congressional Quarterly, "prohibit the display of
statutes commemorating individuals who voluntarily served the
Confederacy or the government of a state in rebellion against the U.S.
It would authorize, for fiscal 2021, $2 million for the Architect of
the Capitol to remove and transport such statues and $3 million for the
Smithsonian Institution to store or display the statues. It would also
direct the AOC to remove from the Capitol, within 30 days of enactment,
the statues of three individuals who vocally defended slavery or white
supremacy -- former Vice President John C. Calhoun of South Carolina,
North Carolina Gov. Charles B. Aycock, and Arkansas Gov. James P.
Clarke. Finally, it would direct the AOC to remove from the Old Supreme
Court Chamber the bust of former Chief Justice Roger Taney, who wrote
the majority opinion in Dred Scott v. Sanford declaring African
Americans ineligible for U.S. citizenship, within 30 days of enactment.
It would require the AOC to replace the Taney bust with one of former
Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court
justice, within two years of enactment." The vote was on a motion to
suspend the rules and pass the bill. The House agreed to the motion by a
vote of 305-113. The Senate never took up the bill. [House Vote 156,
7/22/20; Congressional
Quarterly, 7/22/20;
Congressional Actions,
H.R.7573]
The Bill Came In Response To Nation Wide Calls To Remove
Confederate Statues. According to Congressional Quarterly, the
bill "is a legislative response to nationwide calls for statues that
honor the country's discriminatory past to be relocated from
prominent locations [...] Since the My 24 police killing of George
Floyd, a Black man, protests across the nation have demanded racial
equality when it comes to policing and have advocated for symbols of
the country's racist past to be removed from places of public
admiration." [Congressional Quarterly,
7/22/20]
Republicans Who Opposed The Bill Claimed It Was A States' Rights
Issue. According to the New York Times, "Each state is allowed to
send two statues to the Capitol to be featured in the National
Statuary Hall collection, which is typically visited by thousands of
tourists every day. Federal law gives state leaders, not members of
Congress, the authority to replace them. Because Republican
lawmakers have long argued that states should retain that right,
House Democrats, even though they are in the majority, have been
unable to remove the statues.[...] Mitch McConnell [...] is
unlikely to allow the bill to receive a vote in the Senate." [New
York Times,
7/22/20]