A measure that would remove a statue of a Confederate general born in Florida from the U.S. Capitol was quickly approved by a state Senate panel Tuesday, though the proposal drew its first opposing vote.
The Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee passed the bill (SB 310) on a 4-1 vote, with Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, in opposition. The debate over the statue of Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, one of two Floridians represented in the National Statuary Hall at the Capitol, comes amid a backlash against symbols of the Confederacy after a man with white supremacist views was accused of killing nine African-American worshipers in June at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. Seber Newsome III, from Yulee, told the committee that the backlash was an overreaching attempt to erase Southern history.
And he questioned the motives of Sen. John Legg, a Trinity Republican who is sponsoring the bill and was first elected to the Legislature in 2004. “If it is so important to him to remove the statue of General Smith, why did he wait 11 years?” Newsome asked.
But Legg said he had been “planning on it for a couple of decades actually,” recalling that he would take his history students to the U.S. Capitol and have them write about Florida’s two statues. Legg noted that Smith left Florida when he was 12. “His impact on Florida was not significant,” Legg said. “He just did not shape Florida’s history.”
Each state is allowed a pair of statues in the hall. A replacement for Smith would be nominated by a committee responsible for selecting recipients of the Great Floridian award. The Florida Department of State would submit a report to the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2017, including the name of the nominee, the sculptor and the estimated cost of replacing Smith’s likeness.
The House version of the bill was unanimously approved by the House Economic Development and Tourism Subcommittee this month. The measures are filed for the 2016 session, which starts in January.
Courtesy WZEP
The Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee passed the bill (SB 310) on a 4-1 vote, with Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, in opposition. The debate over the statue of Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, one of two Floridians represented in the National Statuary Hall at the Capitol, comes amid a backlash against symbols of the Confederacy after a man with white supremacist views was accused of killing nine African-American worshipers in June at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. Seber Newsome III, from Yulee, told the committee that the backlash was an overreaching attempt to erase Southern history.
And he questioned the motives of Sen. John Legg, a Trinity Republican who is sponsoring the bill and was first elected to the Legislature in 2004. “If it is so important to him to remove the statue of General Smith, why did he wait 11 years?” Newsome asked.
But Legg said he had been “planning on it for a couple of decades actually,” recalling that he would take his history students to the U.S. Capitol and have them write about Florida’s two statues. Legg noted that Smith left Florida when he was 12. “His impact on Florida was not significant,” Legg said. “He just did not shape Florida’s history.”
Each state is allowed a pair of statues in the hall. A replacement for Smith would be nominated by a committee responsible for selecting recipients of the Great Floridian award. The Florida Department of State would submit a report to the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2017, including the name of the nominee, the sculptor and the estimated cost of replacing Smith’s likeness.
The House version of the bill was unanimously approved by the House Economic Development and Tourism Subcommittee this month. The measures are filed for the 2016 session, which starts in January.
Courtesy WZEP
