11 other Southern Republicans missed vote on measure that passed House Wednesday
♦By Rich Shumate, ChickenFriedPolitics.com editor
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Seventeen Southern Republicans in the U.S. House joined with all of the region’s Democrats to support a resolution calling for removal of Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol, along with a statue of the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney, who wrote the infamous Dred Scott decision.
Eleven other Southern Republicans did not vote on the measure when it came to the floor Wednesday.
Among those supporting the measure were 15 Southern Republicans who represent former Confederate states, including:
- Florida: Gus Bilirakis, Vern Buchanan, Daniel Webster and Mario Diaz-Balart.
- Texas: Michael Burgess, Dan Crenshaw, Will Hurd, Mike McCaul, Pete Olson, and Van Taylor.
- North Carolina: Virginia Foxx, Greg Murphy, and Mark Walker.
- Arkansas: French Hill
- Louisiana: House Minority Whip Steve Scalise
Also voting for the measure was Brett Guthrie from Kentucky and Carol Miller of West Virginia, who represent Southern states that stayed in the Union during the Civil War.
Among the Republicans members who did not cast a vote were Ralph Abraham of Louisiana; Bradley Bryne and Martha Roby of Alabama; George Holding and Richard Hudson of North Carolina; Morgan Griffith of Virginia, Barry Loudermilk of Georgia; Francis Rooney of Florida; Denver Riggleman of Virginia; William Timmons of South Carolina; and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma.
Hurd, Olson, Walker, Abraham, Byrne, Roby, Holding and Rooney are all retiring in November; Riggleman was defeated for re-election. The rest are all seeking re-election.
The bill, which passed the House by a vote of 305 to 113, instructs the Capitol architect to remove statues of “individuals who voluntarily served Confederate States of America” and to replace the statute of Taney with one of Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court.
All of the votes against the measure were cast by Republicans, who opposed the resolution by a vote of 113 to 72.
Taney authored the Dred Scott decision in 1857, which declared African Americans were not citizens even if they had been freed from slavery.
The House bill now goes to the Senate, where it is unclear if the Republican leadership will bring it to the floor. President Donald Trump has also not taken a position on the measure, although he had come out against renaming Southern military bases that were named for Confederates.
Chicken Fried Politics 