Transcripts For CSPAN3 Politics Public Policy Today 20240622

This, as with other aspects of this nightmarish problem the u. S. Needs to lead its partners in the region and internationally in stepping up the effort so its closer to the level of the problem. We have again, we have declaratory policies about humanitarian issues but theres no followthrough. People make pledges they never deliver. Ive looked at camps in kurdistan. I remember seeing the sea of tents last year in northern jordan where syrians have come. Ive seen the camps in turkey. And, you know, if you really want to think about the nightmare, think about all those young men in those camps. Very little jobs, money, but radical preachers. People talking to them about settling scores and its a formula for not just another four, eight years of trouble but a generation of nightmarish problems. We saw what happened when the palestinians were dispersed and went into camp and had radicals banging them every day about the struggle. And i think its i fear its already too late to have caught that in the deradicalization phase. You now have to think about harderedge ct measures. Surely getting people back into syria. Settlement is urgent in syria i think, for the humanitarian reason. Youve got to get people back to their homes, to reasonable lives, so their kids can go to school again. Were many, many years away from that. All the way back in the blue shirt. Marcus lee with Government Accountability office. For the u. S. Military training and advising mission simply, what would success look like for both the im sorry, the Iraqi Security forces the kurdish peshmerga, tribal forces training, what would you say the milestone or metrics to show success . And then separate, smaller question, what are your thoughts on the reports that some iraqi citizens believe that the u. S. Itself is funding and supporting isis to attack against iraqis for the countermessaging part of that . Thank you. The training assist, benchmarks are always difficult. First of all, i compliment secretary carter recently for talking about the fact the shortage of iraqi recruits for training practice. You have to have a series of bench marks. Some dont sound bureaucratic. The quality of training how many you train successfully. The ultimate test, the metric is, theres success is the battlefield from which theyre launched. They cant do that when youre training them from the ground up. They then have to have the sort of support they know the United States can provide, which is command and control support. Whether we like it or not we remain the best on the planet at that sort of thing. As a result, you have to have those measuring sticks. I think the other part and part here im not suggesting anyone isnt being honest about this im just suggesting its important to be terribly honest about it so you dont try to end up with, its going really well. As a result, training and assist is very hard. There are some other gentlemen in this audience who are very aware of this, too. Its very difficult. There are cultural differences, training differences things we assume here in the United States in terms of training military that just arent assumed in other parts of the planet. As a result, it requires a certain type of trainer a certain person who has patience many in this room may not enjoy. It requires linguistic skills and support, its very, very important. Training effectively requires people who are the trainers to stay with it, stay with it, stay with it and not just disappearing going, okay you know how to shoot a rifle, see you later. That simply doesnt work and thats part of what makes it so difficult. David many people have questioned and raised conspiracy theoryies in the past that u. S. Formed al qaeda and supported it. We have a question along the same lines about isis and opinions of iraqi citizens. The problem with the theory that we helped form al qaeda is it has elements of truth, so its a little tough to rebutt that one. It is amazing to me in the face of evidence of american inability to achieve results through projection of on you power, that people continue to believe we are all powerful. If americans couldnt get the electricity going in iraq, they must have had a plan not to get the electricity going in iraq because, i mean, theyre the americans. Of course they could do it. That has been extended. People look at isis and they think, how the heck did the are these you know teenagers, 23yearolds, running rampant across our country. Our army runs away and they capture american tanks. How could they do that . The answer is, well it must be an american plot because americans wopt let that happen. Theyd be crazy to let that happen. You could argue this is our last remaining element of Genuine National power is that the way in which the world thinks that we could accomplish anything, weve given them, you know, a decade more than a decade that that aint so. People still seem to think it so maybe theres a way to use that. In the green shirt, please. Thank you very much. Based in beirut, lebanon. Following what mr. Ignatius was saying but in a different way. Theres a perception and reality in the region about the seriousness of u. S. And the coalition to fight. Forget the conspiracy issue. Is it really priority for United States and key allies in the coalition to fight as the primary danger the serious danger, the priority or the potential influence of iran as a Regional Power and the context of whats going on in the region . Theres two camps. Sunni camp and shia camp are fighting, thats the perception. To a certain degree there are some signs of reality about that. So is United States capable of advancing fighting isis or al qaeda who has been forgotten in yemen now over syria, qatar others who they are their priority to settle in the region against iran or removing assad regime . Who is driving the policy now . Ill take a quick shot. Thats a great question and it goes to the heart of the u. S. Problem. Were trying to mobilize sunni allies to nice isis who are more motivated to fight iran. And shia power. You know, that is the basic problem of our strategy. I talked earlier about some ideas i have about how you deal with that. But i think youve identified that the core not here it isnt a top priority for the United States and isnt a top priority for our sunni allies. Ron marks . Thank you guys. This is a wonderful session. David, you wrote an interesting article recently on Homeland Security and some of the challenges over there. Given whats happened in the last few days in terms of the attacks overseas at this point how comfortable are you that we actually have the wherewithal and the understanding although this point about what kind of recruitment is going on in the u. S. From isis and what kind of actions might be taken here . Im very uncomfortable. I dont want to be an alarmist when ive asked the fbi and the Intelligence Committee in the last days whether theyre concerned about specific threats in the july 4 period. The answer has been, no. We have no credible, specific threat. Just read the messaging. Appeals to lone wolves go out dozens of times a day. There are manifestos about how to make weapons, how to disguise your communications, how to hide, how to kill. Its all out there. And the fbi has been lucky in catching people who seem infected but really nothing where you can say. You know this problem is getting worse. And youre all sort of waiting you know, at some point, some tunisia is going to happen in britain, france, america. Who knows. We know its coming. I would only add there are some people with extraordinary skills finding terrorists in our government now. And the American People have the right to assume theyre going to be defended against this sort of thing. But theres something we called the grind of counterterrorism thats important here and that is never letting go grind day after day, working with the same information, being aware aware aware. If that ever faulters, then i would be more worried than i am now. I do think the United States is a big place and a lot of communities that i travel through in my travels to the United States, in which i see people ive never seen there. Im not suggesting theyre terrorists because i thought they were terrorists. The ability to find someone in the United States is not as easy as everyone thinks. One of the reasons you cant find somebody is because theyre hiding. As a result, that grinding work the fbi is doing the ics doing, to keep after it is extraordinarily important to try to contribute what dhs and jeh johnson are doing every day. Bill webster currently with Homeland Security advisory council. My question is one about perseverance. I cant help but think back to the early days of Desert Shield when we had to beg for permission to land troops to help our fronds the Saudi Arabians who said, you land and you always leave. And in that highly tribal area, i wonder where we stand in our sense of perseverance when we come in to help in this piecemeal way and avoiding issues like boots on the ground and other things of this kind. Do we still have this problem and what can we do about it if we really want to lead them out of this world . Thank you. Judge, you sound like you might have been a director of the cia at one point. I think that is an incredibly important point and question. The engagement with people that ive made reference to before must be engagement beyond the turnover of offices that we have so frequently in the United States and our government here in washington. It must be an expression of a commitment and we in the cia do this all the time. Because we do stay. You know that. Its important to many countries we deal with to know that no matter how bad it gets, that we have the guts to stay with them. Now, we havent been very good at that over the last number of years. It would be my assessment some of that was reflected in the low attendance at the president s camp david accord on middle east policy and middle east redirection. I dont think you can understate the importance of what youve described. I dont think you can understate the importance of a president in a discreet channel f we can do that anymore, reassuring the head of that nation that king, that man oshgonarch, we know these things are getting bad publicly but were not going away. If i was asked once, i was asked 50 times by pakistani Prime Ministers, president s army chiefs of staff, i would always say, you know im not going anywhere. You know the cia never goes anywhere. But i wasnt able to be that confident with the United States government every single army officer in pakistan remembers the famous presser minute that broke it off for a decade. Youve hit on something that i think is important to the United States that we must continue to encourage in our people, our new people in government reencourage in the people who are more mature in government and stay after it. I dont think you can underestimate the value of what youve just described. David, how do we do that when the general public and the president are, as you said, allergic this doesnt require the public. Im talking about contacts and commitments at the u. S. Government level which doesnt mean 100,000 u. S. Troops. Im talking about the appearance of people when things are bad to say, can we help . Those are things that go far longer than trying to show up with 100,000 troops. I agree with that. No one is discussing 100,000 troops, but nonetheless we have to deal with a u. S. Public apart from those elements youre talking about, steve, and a Congress Part of it and an administration and potentially a next administration that does not want to make a commitment on many levels. Well ive been encouraged that a president who passionately wanted to get out of this period of involvement in places like iraq and syria realize that its impossibility. As i said at the beginning, has basically the right policy. I said hes allergic but he is trying to work with Prime Minister abadi the nsc talks with ambassador philey, i assume, in an attempt to coordinate policy. And i close by remembering something that a syrian foreign minister said after president reagan, you know, our model of the strong president decided to pull American Forces out of beirut in 198384. And he said, the americans are short of breath. And i think that is when that idea first began to settle into the minds of people in the middle east. And each subsequent instance of shortness of breath reinforces it. Each moment despite shortness of breath, whos more shorter of breath than barack obama . He doesnt want to be there but he is there. Maybe over time that has the idea were more persistent than people might think. I sure hope so. Were short on time. We have a lot of other questions. I would like to thank david and steve for giving us tremendous insight on a very difficult topic and i hope we can have you back some time. Thank you very much. In from the charleston, South Carolina, post enyour yore today. Governor nikki haley will sign legislation that send the battle flag at complex to museum. At 4 p. M. The bill reached her desk after both chambers of the General Assembly passed it with overwhelming support. The battle flag will fly one more night as part of the confederate memorial before its taken down at 10 00 a. M. Friday. The Confederate Flag has flown at the state house complex in one way or another for more than 50 years. It flew at the top of the dome until 2000 after having been raised in the 1960s around the time of the civil war centennial in a move that was also seen by many as a protest of the civil rights movement. Well have live coverage of the bill signing in South Carolina here on cspan3 at about 4 00 p. M. Eastern time today. Now on cspan3 were going to show you a portion of yesterdays nearly tenhour debate on the Confederate Flag in the South Carolina house of representatives. A programming note though we expect to hear from nancy pelosi and other u. S. House Democratic Leaders shortly about the interior spending bill and a Confederate Flag amendment that got the bill pulled from consideration today. As well as a resolution from nancy pelosi that she offered today about the flag. Well interrupt the South Carolina house debate to bring you leader pelosi live shortly when that takes place on capitol hill. Now, though, its the South Carolina house debate. The final hours from last night leading up to the vote. A vote that took place after midnight. Ms. Cobbhunter has a parliamentary inquiry. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker i rise to make a parliamentary inquiry, if i may. Given the fact that by two votes we are unable to, indeed, offer an alternative to those who would seek one is there any other way that that could be done tonight other than at the appropriate once more to recur to the Morning Hours . Ms. Cobbhunter, in one hour you can make that same motion that would be just to followup on that then. So would it be accurate to suggest that we have an hour to convince three people that it makes sense for us to recur to the Morning Hours . Ms. Cobbhunter that confounder of math youve been here longer than i have. Im sure you know what you need to do. Praise the lord. Thank you mr. Speaker. Mr. Pitts is recognized next. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Im not goipg to stay up here long. What i want to do is point out one thing. I want to point out that there has been an absolute evidence of a double standard or dual standard shown to me today. And thats disingenuous. And that double standard is increasing the numbers i believe, that may vote against the bill in the end if it comes up the senate bill. So what i want to ask is what happens at that point. Think about it. Mr. Howards recognized. Thank you mr. Speaker ladies and gentlemen of the house. I strongly encourage my colleagues tonight to lets not treat this like a carolinaclem carolinaclemson Football Game where we have teams and were trying to win. We have families that has been grossly impacted all over this state with this terrible tragedy. And i commend mr. Ott whos given us a vehicle to meet our needs. But we seem to have an issue with winners and losers. We all will be winners tonight if we accept mr. Arts resolution, to achieve what were trying to achieve. Now, weve been here approximately, what 12 14 hours . And i have not had anything to say tonight but just sit and observe. And hopefully, hopefully we will come together and not be so competitive about winners and losers and allow a clean bill to pass pass. And lets move expeditiously to take the flag down. Because the longer we wait the longer we wait the more problems were going to endure. You all do not understand we come from different communities. We all come from dimpt backgrounds and different communities. You guys do not know what is brewing. And we are a contributor to bad things that may happen or about to happen because we are playing politics with the lives of the citizens of the state of South Carolina. And we say its about its about moving this flag to the relic room respect and dignity and all. Mr. Art when we have an opportunity im not taking any questions. When we have an opportunity to do this, lets do the right thing and stop playing politics with the citizens of the state of South Carolina. Thank you. Mr. Bambergs recognized. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Ladies and gentlemen i kind of like representative howard havent come up to this podium tonight. You heard from me once earlier but i sit around and ive listened to the discussion particularly on this amendment. And it really has me thinking, it has me wondering and quite frankly it has me a bit upset. Ive got to be honest. Im a bit upset. And the debate here today has been for the most part fairly pleasant given the issues that were talking about and people have been courteous of one another. Because were talking about a very contentious and important issue. But i want to take a second and point out just a couple of things. The first and my position has been known very well is that the flag that as we stand and as we sit in here is out waving proudly in the night breeze. That flag needs to come down. And that flag needs to come down sooner rather than later. Now everyone in here has heard the governor call for the flag to come down, congressmen to call for the flag to come down individuals across the state. But lets talk a little bit about something thats important to all of us republican, democrat, black, white rich poor and thats business thats industry. Youve seen after the mother emanuel shooting and how this mass murderer whose name i wont mention because he doesnt deserve it use the flag to symbolize hate for people like myself, people like representative clyburn representative hodges, for hate merely because of the color of our skin. Because of the color of senator pinckneys skin. Because of the color of the other eight members of mother emanuels skin. Thats what the flag signified to him. And businesses know that now. And some may have known it before. But when walmart takes issue with the flag, when amazon takes issue with the flag, when ebay takes issue with the flag were not talking about some small mom and pop business. And i love small mom and pop businesses because yall know im from bamberg and thats what is the life blood of my area. But when these Major Industries take issue with the flag and they want it down, thats just more evidence that it needs to come down and it needs to come down now. Each and every one of you in here know that if this amendment passes, the flag is not going to come down any time soon. They can say its going to go to committee and stuff like that. And thats fine. And that probably will happen at some point, but the fact of the matter is the flag is going to be up outside this state house much longer than it needs to be. Okay . Theres no question about that. And if big business wont do it for some of you all let me point out something else. As i sat here and i listened to people like representative pitts and representative quinn talk about remembering senator Clementa Pinckneys smile. In fact, representative pitts said 13 years ago one of the few things that i remember is senator pinckneys smile. And i think we all agree that he did have one heck of a smile and many of us remember it. But the smile that i remember most, and i want everyone in here to hear this, everyone in the cookie room to hear this and everyone watching outside and everyone to hear this, the smile that i remember most is a smile that was on his face when he was right outside those doors in the rotunda rotunda. Thats the smile i remember most. And i stood out there with other representatives, with other senators standing watch with him so that he wouldnt be alone out there the entire time. And i didnt have the privilege of serving up here with him for an extended period of time. This is my first term. Tell you this, when i as a 27yearold the only minority male from bamberg, South Carolina said i was going to run, he was one of the first who stood up and said son, you can do it. Keep your head up. Offer tips and advice. He was somewhat of a mentor. But thats the smile i remember. And as i saw thousands of people walk past him in line waiting outside for two and a half hours coming in Sweat Drenched and they walk past and they shed tears of sadness, thats the smile that i remember. And what i want to ask you is that if you can sit in here tonight and know that in voting for this amendment when there is a completely Good Alternative and what representative iveative ott has mentioned to you all if you can vote for that amendment knowing that it is going to delay that flag coming down, and i wont say that thats the purpose for all of yall voting for it, but i will say i believe its the purpose for some people voting for it if you can do that ask yourself is that after you push your button and cast your ballot, is that something senator pinckney can look down on you and smile about . I dont think it is. But knowing senator pinckney i can guarantee you that hell look down on you no matter which way you vote and smile because thats the type of person he was. Now, we have seen a lot of tragedy here in South Carolina this year. I personally have been involved in a lot of tragedy in South Carolina. From walter scott to now these things are horrible. They rock communities. They rock towns. They have caused shifts in this state that we have not seen in a very, very, very long time. The fact that we are here discussing this flag tonight is evidence of that. And people will say the flag did not make him do it. And i dont agree i do not disagree with them making that statement. I dont think the flag made this young man do that. People say that this young man had a cloak of hate on that hate made him do it. Let me tell you something, this young man was cloaked in hate. But do you know what his hate was cloaked in . His hate was cloaked in the flag that is waving outside right now. It needs to come down. And we have the opportunity to do it. We have the opportunity to do it in a way that doesnt discredit anyone elses heritage, doesnt take away from other peoples love for what their families have done and what their ancestors did. Mr. Bamberg, let me know when youre ready for questions. It doesnt take away from any of that. Because there are alternatives on the table here. For some reason and i dont know what it is that do you all think that in voting in such a way that brings the flag down now means that we cant take up some of this other stuff later . Is that what some of you all think . Because thats not the case. There isnt a thing that we have talked about in these amendments tonight that cant be taken up prefiled in december or discussed in january. The flag needs to come down tonight. Period. Ill understand that for many of you your position on an issue such as this makes your job as representative in your district very difficult. I understand that. And i respect that. And something that as politicians everybody thinks about. But i ask you all to keep in mind the concept of political courage. And many of yall are going to look at me and think that as a democrat from bamberg, South Carolina, what do i know about political courage . Well let me tell yall something that yall may not know, is that my district isnt as safe as it was historically. My district the district that Justin Bamberg represents, isnt the same district that was represented before the lines were rejoined. I won my election by 151 votes. 151 votes. A large part of my district is chock full of republicans, its chock full of Confederate Flag lovers. Its chock full of people that dont like me. For various reasons. Some of which are reasons that i have no control over. So i know about political courage. Im not just asking you all to take a stand and make a decision because i know that my decision aint going to impact me. I got the same thing to lose as all yall. But sometimes when you do the right thing, its worth it. And i think people will respect every single one of us for doing the right thing. And the right thing is to remove that flag now. Ill take questions. Mr. Sanderford is recognized. And mr. Mcleod. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Bamberg you referenced the two things that mr. Ott has introduced. And let me address them in order. First of all a concurrent resolution resolution. Do you really think that if we were to pass that that the senate would take it up before we come back in january . Or joint resolution. Same difference. To be honest with you representative sandefer, i say this with the utmost complete respect, i dont know whether or not if they will, but what i do know is if we go with that idea versus this mr. Bamberg, im sorry to tell you but your first ten minutes is up. Would you like a second ten minutes . Second ten minutes. I dont know that it will necessarily pass before january. But what i do know representative sanderfer if we pass a clean bill, that flag will be down, it will be down very quickly and that flag will be down before the kkk comes down and celebrates out in front of it, which is whats going to happen if we pass this amendment amendment. And im assuming you know that. But thats okay. Did you also know that the House Resolution that mr. Ott has proposed really has no bearing at all because it does not have the force of anything . It is basically just a waste of good paper just to express the wishes of this house, but it doesnt do anything further. Did you know that . Ill tell you this. I dont know exactly how long that resolution may take but i will tell you this it will get taken up. It will get taken up. And quite frankly i think that it is irresponsible for us as a body elected to represent the citizens of South Carolina and do whats best for this state to put a joint resolution, anything like that above the value of what it means to this state, to those nine families, to that Charleston Community for that flag to come down now. And mr. Bamberg, did you know hes walked away. Thank you. Ms. Cobbhunter, youre recognized to speak on the amendment. Did you recognize me . Ms. Cobbhunter, youre recognized please on the amendment. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker and members as its been pointed out im not going to take a long time to share with you what i came to say. But just know that the gig is up. I think right now we see what the real deal is. So for any of you who were confused about any possible progress that would be made here, youre seeing evidence that we are in a posture of delay, delay, delay. Mr. Speaker and members, quite frankly it is embarrassing to know that in this chamber with all of the conversations weve had about good will, grace mercy and all of that that we cannot get enough members in this body to put their money where their mouth is by simply voting to allow mr. Otts resolution to be read across the desk. I ask for those of you sitting there thinking that i am not accurate and what i just said, then explain this to me. If you are of the opinion that it is way past time excuse me, ms. Cobbhunter. Order, please. Some members cant hear. Continue please. Mr. Speaker, youre a little soft with that gavel. Well, i can be a lot louder ms. Cobbhunter. At this hour and with this crowd, youre going to have to be a little louder baby. Well, the speaker pro tem, he likes to break the hammer. Well, pretend youre him and try at least breaking it. Amen. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker and members heres the point im making here in all seriousness. All mr. Ott is asking for is a chance for us to have something mr. Quinn has before you. The question i have for you is simply this. You have heard comments from this podium that if we amend the bill, it will add to the time that it can be considered. That is on the record those of you who are in your caucus meeting this morning from what ms. Horne said from this podium heard your speaker tell you that senator leatherman has said the senate will not entertain any amendments from the house. Now, its real hard for me to understand how you expect us to believe that you are serious about moving this flag in a timely manner when all you are doing here is delaying and stalling, and trying to gum up the works. Mr. Speaker and members, you dont have to listen to me. But i will tell you one thing, there are a whole lot of people outside this chamber who are looking and listening to you. Mr. Speaker and members, let me be very clear with you this is a seminole moment in our history. This is not a joke. There are nine families who will never be the same because of actions of a man who used this flag to justify taking nine precious lives. Now, you want to be important. You want people to bow and be all on whatever it is, you got to understand that this is serious. If indeed you are not trying to stall, mr. Limehouse, then whats the problem . If indeed you want the flag to come down, and mr. Merrill has taken the podium to say were on board with the coming down we interrupt this South Carolina debate for a bit now as we take you live to the u. S. Capitol for a briefing with House Minority leader nancy pelosi and other Democratic Leaders. Well return to the South Carolina debate when this live event wraps up. Good afternoon everyone. Today we had action on the floor. I presented a privilege resolution which really captured the initiative put forth by congressman Denny 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. Thats intolerable. So today i put forth in essence mr. Thompsons 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 thompsons resolution of two weeks ago. Chair said he couldnt 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 legislature and the signature of the governor will be taking down the flag their house of representatives, the republicans in the house of representatives are voting down any discussion even of battle flags confederate battle flags and the capitol of the United States. I couldnt 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. Cod burn and thank him for the inspiration hes been to our nation especially in the last few weeks. And 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. Thank you very much madame leader. As the leader indicated today is an interesting day. We are celebrateing the day that South Carolina happened to have been the state that ratified the 14th amendment on this day bringing the number of states necessary for the 14th amendment to become a part of our constitution on this date, the day that the governor will sign a piece of legislation bringing taking that flag off the ground of the state house. Theyll remove it at 10 00 in the morning. Now, the interesting thing about the state house in columbia South Carolina, and the confederate battle flag, the flag of the army of northern virginia, thats what that is. There were three versions of the Confederate Flag. This was never one of them. The proponents of this flag tried forever to have it adopted, have it given some official status, the daughters of the confederacy always rejected it. And when robert e. Lee surrendered at aphe urged all of his followers to furl this flag. In one statement he said put it in your attics. He didnt want this flag flown at his funeral. He didnt want to be buried in his confederate uniform because he said this was a symbol and the uniforms are dress for treason. Now best of history much of this flag and why it is were having such a hard time today on the day that South Carolina becomes the last state to take it off of its grounds we have decided that we are going to make it mandatory that our National Parks sell this flag and display it on their grounds. Now, after senator pinckneys funeral there was a long possession from charleston South Carolina to marion where he was to be laid to rest on that route through all the little townspeople came to the curbs, stood on the side of the road waving a United States flag. One flag. Black, white young old, all waving and pledging allegiance to that one flag. Our leader often talks about our nations motto e plurpluribus unum. One nation, indivisible for liberty and justice for all. One flag, one nation. And with that id like to yield to my longtime friend weve known each other for 45 or 50 years. And one of the things we often joke about is South Carolina was the first to secede not far behind, my friend bennie thompson. Thank you very much, mr. Clyburn. What youve seen over the last two weeks is an effort by members primarily of the Democratic Caucus to put closure to an open wound thats been here for a long time. I live in mississippi. Ive lived my entire life. Ive had to endure a lot of the atrocities that africanamericans and right thinking people have had to endure at the hands of officials who waved this flag as heritage rather than hate. When the civil war started, South Carolina and mississippi had more africanamericans living in its state than they had any other race. But they were all slaves. And so this war was fought over slavery. And so the symbol behind that war was a confederate battle flag. And what were trying to do is bring those people who still see this flag as a symbol that the war is not over, that its heritage and not hate. That you lost the war. Its time for you to join the rest of the country and be the United States of america. Not as a museum for relics of war. And we should have a place for those things to be. But over our capitols and to be representative of the states that we live in is an insult because what they stand for, racism, bigotry, all those things in a democracy have no place. So our effort is to have the United States house of representatives provide the leadership necessary to begin the complete healing by removing those symbols that we can no longer afford to live with as a country. So thats why my privilege resolution was offered. Our leaders resolution was offered in the spirit and all these other parliamentary maneuvers to avoid making tough decisions can only delay the process. We have to get beyond this. So i ask the Republican Leadership in this institution to let us take a vote, let us not make referrals. Theres enough history, theres enough on the record as to what these symbols stand for that theres no reason to conduct any hearing to do that. So id like to introduce congressman Hakeem Jeffreys from new york who is helping us bring this issue to the forefront but also instrumental in getting interior appropriations council. Thank leader pelosi and distinguished gentleman from mississippi. Earlier this week congressman huffman and i introduced collectively three amendments whose purpose was to prohibit the use of federal funds connected to the purchase, sale or display of the confederate battle flag on National Park service grounds. At first it appeared that House Republicans were prepared to do the right thing and help to banish this symbol of racial hatred and oppression. But then apparently the ghosts of the confederacy invaded the republican conference. And as a result less than 24 hours later in a dramatic turnaround in the dead of night under cover of darkness House Republicans reversed course and set forth to legislatively legit legitimize the display and the sale of the Confederate Flag. Today, theyve made the decision to refer mr. Thompsons resolution to a committee for a hearing. Im perplexed. The members of the republican conference who support the confederate battle flag apparently argue that this is about heritage and tradition. What exactly is the tradition the confederate battle flag is meant to represent . Is it slavery rape, kidnap, genocide, treason, or all of the above . The confederate battle flag is a devisive symbol of racial hatred and oppression. It stood for the defense of the institution of slavery. And in all of its forms its time to banish it to the dust bin of history where it belongs. Now my honor and privilege to yield to the distinguished gentleman, my good friend and colleague and classmate from the great state of california. I may put in a motion to make him on honorary member of the congressional black caucus. Thank you very much. Two days ago i was proud to introduce along with my colleague two of the amendments at issue here. Amendments that would ban the sale of confederate battle flags at our National Parks and the display of symbols on National Cemetery grave sites. And i was pleased at first when they appeared to pass on voice vote. I thagt for a moment that the United States congress was about to put its voice forward in the same way that weve seen so hopefully throughout the south South Carolina and other places in the same way weve seen Corporate America step up on this issue and realize we have to stop providing nostalgic cover for these symbols of racism and segregation and hatred and slavery. I really thought we were there. But in the last 24 hours to see the reversal that has taken place within the republican kau kis is frankly shocking and disappointing. To see it in the context of procedural maneuvers and obstructionist tactics theyve taken to prevent mr. Thompsons resolution from having a vote in this house is also shocking and disappointing. I have no doubt that eventually the u. S. Congress will do the right thing. We will step up and we will vote to get rid of these symbols of hatred and segregation and slavery, as we should have long ago. But unfortunately we are unable to speak with one voice on this issue today because of a faction within the Republican Caucus that frankly is out of step with the times we live in with where the country wants us to go on this issue and with the values that i believe our country holds dear. So we hope that we will get through this and eventually have that vote and do the right thing, but unfortunately were unable to do that today. With that its my honor to yield to my friend from louisiana oh my friend from minnesota without whose very astute work on the floor late last night to catch what looked like annin ok in ok innocuous technical amendment we may not be here with an opportunity to have a recorded vote on this important issue. She and her staff did us a Great Service last night. Betty. [ applause ] well, the interior bill is a polluters dream profiteering from pollution for those who want to not follow the law. But it had one bright spot in it. It had funding in it for native american brothers and sisters. And then because of the amendments of mr. Jeffers and mr. Huffman, it had two more bright spots added to it. I sat on the floor when these gentlemen introduced their amendments. And i was really proud. And i was really proud of the fact that there was no objection raised from the other side of the aisle. And i thought america at its best. We are doing better. We can do better. And then last night around 8 00 when we were ready to wrap up the bill there was a flurry of activity and then a little bit of disruption as the chairman of the committee started just talking about wildfires and striking the last word and talking about climate change. And we noticed people coming to the floor from the leadership offices of mr. Rogers and Speaker Boehner. And then i noticed that the parliamentiarn was called off the floor to discuss something. So our antenna was up. And then we were presented with an amendment that you couldnt tell what it was going to do. But the staff on the Appropriations Committee was very quick to point out what it was doing. The huffman amendment, which was adopted by the whole house banned the sale of Confederate Flag items, and the amendment that was offered by chairman calvert was a direct attempt to negate this important amendment. It also went as far as to block the june 24th National Parks memorandum into law, which is what mr. Huffman was doing. It even tied the agencys hands to take any action against concessionaires and other partners who would ignore the park Service Request to voluntarily withdraw the Confederate Flag sale items. And then it went further. It started moving towards really keeping us from having our voice expressed to the house. Not transparent and clear in what its doing is an amendment that is deceitful. And i believe it was deceit on the entire house of representatives to have an amendment come forward that didnt even mention Confederate Flag in it once. And so im very sad that weve come to a point where the will of the house to speak out against hate to speak out against racism was to be undone without any transparency at all. So we called for a roll call vote on it. I called for a roll call vote. They obviously needed as we found out since leadership because this bill wasnt bad enough for some of the republicans to put in hate, to put in racism permanently into by not allowing our park service to withdraw these objectionable items. So im very very pleased that we have brought this to everyones attention what the underlying issue is. And that is we need to put an end to the confederate battle flag in our public spaces. So with that i would yield to mr. Richmond from louisiana. Now, im from minnesota. So the mississippi goes down to mr. Richmond. Thank you so much. I came up here and i was going to start with something that my grandmother used to always tell me often which was, forgive them for they know not what they do. The sad part here today and the part that frightens me the most is that they know exactly what theyre doing. But also being the son and grandson of southern parents and grandparents who raised me in mississippi and louisiana, the one thing that they stressed to me was the new testament. And watching those families in South Carolina who exhibited the best of the best by showing grace and mercy as they forgave the perpetrator, i stand here today praying for my republican colleagues who cant find the courage in their hearts or in their souls who are letting bigots and people who would reaffirm inferiority, racism and all of those negative things. Theyre letting them win. And the only thing i can do and the only thing we can do as a caucus is continue to fight for what we believe in. And continue to pray for them that they will see the light that this is one nation with one flag. And that we will only be a better country when we learn to love. And pastor and representative Emanuel Cleaver spoke this morning about the power of love. And its sad to say that we have a body that represents this United States. And half of this body today let hate win. But we will continue to love. We will continue to pray because we know that this great nation is better than what we exhibited today. And we know that we will win and show that love has a place in this country. We welcome everybody in it and everybodys fair and this confederate battle flag is not a symbol of anything that we stand for. And the notion of the south will rise again is not something that we look forward to. We look forward to this country rising above hate and rising toward love. Thank you. And with that i will introduce our chair of our hispanic caucus and the best member of the congressional baseball team. That would be congresswoman linda sanchez. Thank you, cedric. Im really proud to stand with my colleagues behind me and stand up for something that we believe so strongly in. And im not quite sure how we got here, but im disappointed that we have to be here today fighting something that is a divisive symbol for this country. My parents are immigrants to this country. They love this country. And one thing that i remember my father talking about growing up was that a house divided against itself cannot stand. And yet here we are in the 20th century 21st century, pardon me talking about arguing, fighting, over symbols that are symbols of racism of oppression, of pain. And for many minority communities even terror. The only place that the Confederate Flag belongs is in the pages of history. And so as the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus we stand firm. And we will be vocal. And we will be loud. And how ironic that on a day when South Carolinas Legislature Took actions to ban the flag here we are in the United States congress in the halls of the United States congress having to fight that battle. I sincerely hope that my that the republican majority can come to the same conclusion that we do. Divisive symbols have no place above our public federal spaces. [ speaking spanish ] [ speaking spanish ] and now its my pleasure to introduce our final speaker, the chair of the congressional black caucus, mr. Butterfield. Thank you very much congresswoman sanchez. As the congresswoman said, i am the last speaker so i will be brief so that we can open up the process for questions and answers. I am indeed the chairman of the congressional black caucus. We have 46 members. We are 23 of the house Democratic Caucus and 10 of the house representatives. And so we are vitally interested in the work of the house of representatives and what happened today really offends all of us to say the least. Let me publicly thank leader pelosi for bringing this privilege resolution today. It was a very thoughtful resolution. And it was certainly necessary. I asked the question why after 150 years since slavery came to an end must we still have a debate over the Confederate Flag . Most of you certainly know i too am from a Southern State i live in north carolina. And i remember seeing the Confederate Flag all of my life. And Confederate Flags still fly in my hometown every day. Theyre on the cars theyre on the trucks theyre all over our community. It is not the heritage question that ought to be addressed. It is the fact that we are one nation, as mr. Richmond said a moment ago and the confederate battle flag has no place in our communities. And so without question the confederate battle flag offends it offends the congressional black caucus. It offends 40 million black americans. And it offends all decent americans everywhere. We are so proud of what happened in South Carolina last night. The South Carolina legislature had the courage to do the right thing. And now we must focus our attention on the state of mississippi. And so we support congressman Bennie Thompsons privilege resolution that has been referred to committee for consideration. And we ask the leadership, the Republican Leadership, to expedite consideration of mrs. Pelosis resolution as well as mr. Thompsons resolution because america is waiting for an answer. So i call on my colleagues to be thoughtful, to reverse the actions of last evening. And lets get busy with the business that the American People care about. And that is creating jobs and expending medicaid and doing things that will empower americas families to be better. And lets put the Confederate Flag issue to rest. Thank you very much. Thank you mr. Butterfield. I think it is important to note that we are talking about this coincidences of time are just remarkable on the very day 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 its important to know this, the reason they proposed the republicans proposed the calvert amendment last night was because as their chairman mr. Rogers said, they feared losing 100 of their members because of the jeffreyshuffman amendments. Is that remarkable . 100 of their members would vote against the bill as congresswoman Ranking Member on the Committee Said the bill wasnt bad enough for them. Pollution and all the rest of it and special interests but they needed hatred in the bill as well. So thats whats interesting. So we had this conversation with you here. The one reason we werent able to speak on the floor is highly unusual for privilege 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 of 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 dont paint the south with the brush of some 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. Its about us. And who we are. And how committed we are to when we take that oath and pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america. As mr. Clyburn said one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice, justice justice, for all. And thats what we want right now. Justice for all. So any of my colleagues im so pleased to have so many of our colleagues here would be resourced to answering any of the questions you may have. Yes, maam. Speaker pelosi Speaker Boehner said in his News Conference earlier that he wanted a bipartisan conversation, some formal Bipartisan Group to talk about, you know congressional response to the Confederate Flag. Can you describe im eager to hear others as well but leader pelosi, can you describe whether you had conversations with no, i havent had any conversations about it. But what is it that you have to study . Do we have to study hatred in its manifestation in the Confederate Flag . This is simple. Its about time. And all of this is two weeks since june 25th. Now theyre referring my resolution to committee. And now they want to set up a commission. Lets not wait one more minute to take down that flag in the capitol. First, i want to associate myself with the words of the leader. Shes absolutely correct. I recall president obamas eulogy at senator pinckneys funeral and he addressed the question of whether we need to continue to have the conversations. Answer to that is no. We need action. We have had this conversation for 150 years. And now its 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 try to rid this country of White Supremacy and bigotry and hatred. So, no i do not support the idea of a commission. The time for talking and having a conversation is over. And its time for action. The house of representatives needs to act immediately. What does this say to you about the Republican Party . Do you feel they just dont get it . They dont get this offensive symbol . They dont care . And also separately whats the next step . You cant force a vote on the resolution correct . Well the public sentiment is everything. Abraham lincoln with public sentiment you can accomplish almost anything, without it nothing. And we believe that public sentiment will come to bear and theyll be waving a white flag soon on the republican side in order to end this issue of taking down the confederate battle flag. But the 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 . 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 . The privileged resolution spoke to putting it in museums localities where other artifacts of history are held. So theres no way of trying to push it all. 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 place. What about your own state flag . Ive brought it for you to look at it. Theres 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 were trying to do and im trying to say even to my people back home we can do better. The good thing is 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 Energy Without situations like South Carolina happening to get it changed. One more question. Yes, sir. Just looking at the resolution again, are you calling for the removal of Mississippi State flag and some other flags that have been seen to be influenced by the confederate battle flag . Or are you just looking for mississippi . Well, my resolution only speaks to mississippi battle flag confederate battle flag in its present form. And 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 a flag in front of their offices. We respect that. But there are certain other areas here on the house side where we fly. And i clearly think thats inappropriate. Thank you all very much. I thank my colleagues. And i thank all of you for being here. As i said we couldnt speak on the floor, but we will. And i want to thank betty again because she was the lynchpin for all of this last night for catching what they were doing in the appropriations bill. Thank you, betty. You heard todays briefing reference to a Confederate Flag amendment that was offered by republican ken calvert of california. Representative calvert released a Statement Today that reads in part, the amendment was brought to me by leadership at the request of some southern members of the gop caucus. Looking back iback, i regret not conferring with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Later this afternoon from South Carolina, governor nikki haley will shrine legislation that sends the confederate battle flag at the complex to a museum. The signing at 4 00 p. M. Today will cover that well cover that live here on cspan 3. Now back to more of the debate from last night in the South Carolina house, debate leading up to a late night sote to bring the Confederate Flag down in columbia. So hurt, they they did not cause any problems and they were willing to forgive. And so we want the world to know that we are a good state and that were going to work with each other and were going to move forward. I want to thank representative gilley ard who touched on things this morning and made us feel exactly pow important it was that we behave in a professional manner. I dont know representative quinn. I think hes had his 20 minutes. I wish he was here so i could ask him to close this amendment, and lets see what happens with representative arts resolution. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, mrs. Cobb hunter for what purpose do you rise . I ask that we resume in the morning answers and ask for a roll call vote. For what purpose do you rise . Move we table and request a roll call on the tabling motion. Mr. Sanford moves that we table the motion. Nine members second. Tabling motion. Voting on the board. Time. Close for tabulate. Time has expired. By vote of 6258, the house refuses to table until the morning hour. Pending question is the motion to reoccur to the morning hour. Pending question is the motion to reoccur to the morning hour. All in favor say wae. Those opposed. There has been asked for a roll call. Nine do vote. Well vote on the board. Motion is to reoccur until the morning hour. Polls are closed. Clerk will tabulate, by vote of 5446, house reoccurs to the closing hours. Clerk will read. Appreciate from the introduction of dr. James e wiseman. Unanimously adopted. Mr. Johnson expressing profound sorrow for the death of sherry marie page. Is there an objection so hearing . None ordered. So adopted. Representative chip huggins congratulating karen close. All right. Is there an objection . None heard. So ordered. Adopted. And we have an introduction by mr. Rutherford and many others. A joint resolution, directing the South Carolina confederate relic room and Military Museum through its director to establish and maintain appropriate permanent and public dus played for the Infantry Battle flag. Aappropriated by the house Judiciary Committee. And a House Resolution by representative ot and a House Resolution by representative rutherford and many others regarding the placement of the Infantry Battle flag at the Confederate States of america museum. Is there an objection it is a House Resolution, mr. Ot. I have to ask if there is an objection to immediate consideration. If five members object then we have to do that okay. So well get through that. A House Resolution by mr. Ot and others. Is there an objection to immediate consideration . There are more than five that object. For the house Judiciary Committee. Mr. Ott, we are now in unanimous consent request. Mr. Speaker unanimous consent that the bill be recalled, the House Resolution be recalled from the Judiciary Committee. Mr. Sanford objects. Motion. Yes, maam mrs. Cobbhunter. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to recall from the Judiciary Committee and be placed on the calendar. Mostly sunny cobbhunter objects. Thank you. Mr. Hart. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I asked for unanimous consent to withdraw the house res lug just introduced by representative ot out of the house Judiciary Committee. Is there objection . Mr. Sanford objects. Mr. Balentien . Mr. Speaker, thank you i have a question. I know it is getting late here. Are we asking to pull out a resolution that does the exact same thing as this amendment . Is that what were trying to do . Yes. And we have people objecting . Yes. And i just wanted to make sure i was understanding. Thank you. All right. Were back on the bill. When the motion bid, mr. Tool opposed [ inaudible ]. All opposed say no. Mr. Tool you insist . Roll call. All right. Mr. Moss you object . You move to suspend . Okay. Mr. Smith, you ask for a roll call. A roll call on the motion. Denying his request. Now well do a vote on the board. Straight up vote on the motion to dispense with the balance of the motion period. Mr. Mr. Merrill . We have some confusion back here. If you vote green, what are you voting for . You are voting to dispense with the balance of the motion period. If you vote no, you vote not to dispense with the balance of the period. Exactly. Thank you. Polls are closed. Clerk will tabulate we dispense with the balance of the period. Mr. Quinn for what purpose do you rise, sir. Not knowing what the numbers are for mr. Otts two resolutions, i would make the motion we recall the Judiciary Committee. We cant do it. We dispensed with it. Yall dispensed with the ballot motion. Mr. Quinn that is not in order at this time. That is all right. Mr. Hosy was next. Mr. Hosy is recognized. Thank you, mr. Speaker members of the house. Mr. Hosy, let me get you some order. House will come to order. Members will come to order. Mr. Hosy is recognized. Members of the house, i know you passed your listening time and attention and it is time to go home. However, i remember an old song mr. Hosy let me get you a little bit of order please sir. Guys, if we can, lets bring it back together and give mr. Hosy the honor he deserves. I remember an old song that said Something Like how can i get your love when you keep on snatching it back. And it seems to be what happens here today. We had a lot of love this morning. We talked about a lot of things a lot of accolades and recognition was given and then i have mixed emotions now, because i sat there and think about what if it had been me going to my grave, would they be doing the same thing about me. You know, after all of the work youve given, the same people who say they love me who care about me would they be doing the same kind of thing . I honestly came to my head and said yes. Yes. And its serious. I was an infantry man in the United States marine corp, 0311. Hoorah. And ill tell you what, i needed friends and allies in my fox hole. And if i didnt have a thought that my friend was not in my friend and was any enemy, because i knew i couldnt fight on two fronts, from my fox hole and the front i had to face so i had to get rid of one. I was shooting my friend who was socalled my friend. Because you all yall cant have two fronts. It is a sad thing it is a sad thing if you cant trust your brother or your sister. Here at a day let me tell you, i come from barnwell, and that is my district pushing the western orangeberg but my district is about 53 black, about 47 white. And let me tell you, i may have had two calls that said keep the flag up. Im talking about white folk in my district who happen to be republicans did not call me. They gave me the respect of making the decision up here for them. We cant be afraid of the office that we hold because someone is saying earlier that it doesnt belong to us, it belongs to the people. And im not afraid. So im going to make the right decision. And i would hope that i mr. Quinn would follow mr. Clyburns request and pull the amendment here so that we can be together when we walk out of here out of this chambers tonight. Already the morning is about to be upon us. I really do i just cant help but remember the nine that we all attend the funerals of pinkney and some of us attended others. However, the sad thing today to remember that this is what you would do for me if i had been killed killed. This is sad. And youre going to pat me on the back and tell me you love me. This is our country too, you know. We love it and we want to do things that help it. And im not trying to preach to you or make you feel bad. But i do want to you be aware of what is going on. And im going to take my seat because if i stay here, i get into trouble because i dont bite my tongue. That is why i dont come to the podium that often. You just dont know how to bite the tongue. But this is my country. This is yours. And so we all remember the words of the song of jackson, my country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty of thee i sing, land where my fathers died land of the pilgrims plied from every mountain side, let freedom ring, freedom need to ring in South Carolina again. Where we are loving each other and doing things together. If we put just a little bit more energy in working together, you can see what kind of great state we have. When we divert all of our attention to fighting each other. Sin against the the senate against the house, the house against the senate and these ugly things. Im tired of it. Seeing that. Im 68 years old. I just need to go home and play in my garden because this is not good. Really really. I dont give up easy. But when you cant ever win it is about time to it is about making a decision. Making a decision that somebody else can do a better job. I love you. I care for you. And i hope that you will do the same for me and for others. Consider what ive told you. I have republicans, white in my district, a large number. We all have the same number 37,000 people plus, give or tame. And so out of my 37,000 52 black, 47 or 48 white and they are not bothering me about this issue. Thank you very much and i hope that well come to a conclusion tonight. And quinn please, sir, i think we need you now to be the hero, if you would come forward and be that hero for South Carolina, for the world, all of us thank you very much. [ applause ] mr. Mulch, for what purpose do you rise. Speaker on behalf of the staff, they normally have to stay three to four hours after we adjourn and theyve been here since approximately 8 00, i make a motion we adjourn. Mr. Moss moves the motion that we adjourn. Tabled motion is not appropriate for this. This is straight up and down vote. Roll call is requested. Mostly sunny cobbhunter requested a roll call. Do nine members second . Nine members do. Roll call is required. Voting on the order. Mr. Key, for what purpose do you ri mr. King, for what purpose do you rise . I have a question. Yes, sir. Mr. Speaker, can you tell me how much it is charging the citizen how much it is costing the citizen of South Carolina for us to be here debating this issue, going into tomorrow . Mr. King i am not can you get that information for me, sir. And i was going to say you and i have had this experience in many other circumstances so as weve discussed previously i i think your ability to research with thur law degree could be helpful. I would like to stand up here and continue to deliberate and preside over the members we have speaking. Thank you sir. Time. Time has expired. Clerk will close the polls and tabulate by motion of 3111, the motion to adjourn for the day is defeated. Well continue working. Mr. Macis recognized to speak on the bill. Thank you mr. Speaker. Ladies and gentlemen of the house, i was here in 2000 when we had the Confederate Flag debate. And we took the flag off the dome and out of the chambers. And the reason why this is so disgusting tonight for me, i thought wed moved further. In 2000 it was very contentious, it was very nasty. I think everything short of name calling, and might have been some of that. And we watched charleston and the state of South Carolina move forward. We the families and the communities Work Together no violence no hate. We watched the businesses come one by one and make the case to move forward. Because quite frankly a lot of us in the Africanamerican Community was in so much pain, so much grief, until the flag wasnt even on our radar. It was the business community, it was some of the white republican members of this body that said its time to do something with the flag. And then the senate stepped up to the plate. And did a phenomenal job. 373 clean bill. Then we get it. And we mess it up. All we need is a clean bill. Now there is a chance that flag is going to be up there when the ku klux klan comes to town. South carolina South Carolina. I keep thinking were better than this. And we keep falling right down the same path. People have touched on it. Let me Say Something about slavery. Slavery was the purpose of the civil war. Lets not play with it lets not be delusional. Slavery was the economic engine that drove the south. And those of us that are in business if we took morality out of it, what a business model. Free labor. Everybody could be successful in business if they had free labor. You just dont have to have a moral compass. So here we are with a situation as it relates to the civil war being identified with us an opportunity to move forward and we step in it. We blow it. We totally blow it. You know its interesting when you study slavery and the economics of it each slave ship that went to africa in the time of slavery each slave ship cost, in the days dollars about 13,000, in dollars then about 13,000 and you know how much profit they made on each slave ship about 230,000. That isnt bad. 13,000 investment you make 230,000 back in that period. Thats why your africanamerican brothers and sisters like me to this day were still ticked off and i said ticked, t. I. C. K. E. D. Were still angry. So as was mentioned very well by representative cob hunter and neal, when you talk about grace as it relates to an amendment, for the confederacy and lets be straight there is a lot of monuments deflikting depicting the confederacy on the grounds and nobody is talking about that. How much is enough. Jay marion sims, that was on one of the amendments a statue of Jay Marion Sims the father of gynocology, we walk by and we dont even know who he is. He was a guy doing slavery that made his name by working on africa women with no anesthesia, taking notes just throw the carcus aside when he got finished with each one. And we have a statue of him. Wade hampton all of these people are bad people. But as bad as that is when you fly a flag it says this is who we are. I, like so many members of the black caucus did not plan on coming up here tonight. Because i know i would make some of you angry. But right now it is at the point i just dont care. Because it seems like were not respected enough to make a decision, to be part of a decision to do the right thing. To do the right thing. Any black person born in the state of South Carolina, especially in the south, that has anything as it related to consciousness, will hate the sight of that flag. And tor the technical people, i know it is not the Confederate Flag, i know it is the battle flag but it is the confederate assy, and that is the bottom line. That is the bottom line. And that is problematic. We thought we could get a clean bill out of here, second reading, third reading tomorrow and we would have done right by the state of South Carolina and those families. But we didnt. We did not. We kept our record in tact. We said quite clearly this is who we are. And its a shame. Its a shame. Mr. James smith is recognized. Im sorry, mr. Bails he did not want to take questions. I will keep you first on our list. Im sorry, mr. Bails. Hey. Ladies and gentlemen i want to ask us to stop and be reasonable. Now what we need to do is to give second reading to this bill before 12 00. And at 12 05 give third reading to take the flag down and go home. Now we all know what is right and what we ought to do. It is now a quarter to 12 00. We need to table the amendments and pass the bill the senate passed, then after 12 00 give third reading and go home and guess what . All of you people want to save money, it will save 50,000 if we dont have to come back friday. Now think about it, seriously. Mr. Baits that is a question for mr. Smith but im going to try to take it up. Sir, whether we go past midnight or not, does not change the mechanics. We can still have third reading, my understanding, from the staff, so there is no magic hour if we get to 12 01, does not mean we cant continue and if it is the will of the body we can still have the reading. But we run the clock backward. And im all right with that. And mr. Smith, i think that is the only question if you would like to begin. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Members of the house, it is a privilege to be with you all this evening. The sausage making can look ugly at times and difficult. But there is some method to what we do at times. And im encouraged by what i hear in the conversations going on we may be able to, tonight, to vote on a clean bill, to vote on the senate bill and nothing more, and that bill and vote on a joint resolution that would achieve what representative quinn is attempting to do and some others. And so while that is being put together and im very encouraged by what i hear for us all and for our state most importantly i want to share with you some things i think are important based upon the debate we heard earlier. And i really have to begin for me where it all starts. You know, several of us were meeting and talking about bringing up the Confederate Flag. My dear friend Vincent Shaheen in his campaign raised the issue. Couldnt get a lot of folks interested. Myself and a few of my constituent and leaders were meeting, lets address the Confederate Flag next year. I think we can raise it and maybe build some will to make change. Maybe we can accomplish something. And we were talking about all kind of compromises, maybe back to the old healing walrus and i was on the Conference Committee and we went back and dusted off the old compromises and take a look at these and maybe one will work this time and maybe we can get this done. And all of the reasons that we thought about moving the Confederate Flag then are the same reasons were talking about today. So what is different . We all we all know what is different. What is different are the hate filled murders of nine innocents in charleston. We want to talk about memorializing, remembering, sacrifice. We ought to be focused on memorializing and remembering the sacrifice, the murders that brought us all here today and the murders committed by a murderer under a banner that flies on the front lawn of our state house. We couldnt build the political will on our own ladies and gentlemen, to do what is right. It was not going to happen. We would not be here. We should memorialize those who bring us all together tonight, to make change that is far, far, far overdue. Too long of a time coming and certainly well and fitting. It was right to remove the Confederate Flag from the state house on the grounds before june 17th, 2015, and for the same reasons it is right to do it today. And for the sake of all in our state, lets dont lose this moment. That is what our friend clem would be telling us. That is what hed be telling all of us. Do not lose this moment. I remember one thing he said and he said this before and it was quoted by our president and i thought it was a wonderful statement. He said, you know across the south, we have a deep appreciation of history. We havent always had a deep appreciation of each others history. I think that speaks volumes about where we are right now. And sometimes we dont have an appreciate for our own history. And i hear all of this talk about we have to honor those that fought and died in the civil war. And we should. And we do. As a matter of fact, we have a monument on the front lawn of our state house and i dare say on the front lawn of every courthouse around our state, the most prominent place or location for a monument is the confederate Soldiers Monument in virtually every county and our state house grounds and so dont tell me moving the flag fails to honor our