Meeting to hear racist symbols on our public lands. Under Committee Rule 4f, any l Opening Statements designees. This will allow us to hear from our witnesses sooner and help members keep their schedules. Therefore, i ask unanimous consent and that all other members Opening Statements be made part of the hearing record if they are submitted to the clerk by 5 00 p. M. Today or the close of the hearing, whichever comes first. Hearing no objection, so ordered. Without objection, the chair may declare a recess subject to the call of the chair because there are votes. So we will have to break for that. As described in the notice, statements, documents, or motions must be submitted to the electronic repository at h r see hnrc. Members are responsible for their own microphones. As with our in person meeting, members can be muted by staff only to avoid inadvertent background noise. Anyone present in the hearing room today must wear a mask, covering their mouth and nose. The speaker of the house and the sergeant at arms acting upon the recommendation of the attending physician require face coverings for all indoor gatherings over 15 minutes in length such as committee meetings. Accordingly, to maintain decorum and protect the safety of members and staff, the chair will not recognize any member who is not wearing a mask. According to house will 17, and Committee Rule 3d, the chair retains the right of recognition. The responsibility to maintain to quorum. Thank you all for attending todays subcommittee on National Parks, forests, and public lands. Legislative hearing on three bills that grapple with the ramifications of confederate statues, memorials, and symbols in public spaces throughout the country. I would like to start by welcoming the sponsors as well as the distinguished panel of witnesses joining us today to think about this quickly issue. I would also like to acknowledge the fact that there are not any republican bills on todays agenda and recognize this may cause some frustration among my colleagues on the others of the dais. Throughout my tenure as chair of the subcommittee, approximately one third of the bills scheduled have come from the public and sponsors. I remain committed to finding opportunities for bipartisanship and i am hopeful that we can even find some consensus on the issues before us today. On racismal reckoning and injustice precipitated by the tragic murder of george floyd makes it clear that todays conversation is not only necessary but long overdue. Thannot imagine that more 150 years after the end of the civil war, president lincoln would have expected us to still be coming to terms with the legacy of slavery, racial disc termination, and inequalities that the confederacy fought to uphold. The least we can do is challenge ourselves to question the origin and meaning of symbols we choose to display. President trump has defended Confederate Monuments as our heritage and spoken of their artistic beauty. Thatver artistic beauty may exist in a statue or individual memorial is irrelevant and it bears mentioning that many confederate weremorations and works established decades later, at the peak of jim crow, a notsosubtle reminder of the bigotry that permeates our society today. Witnesses today. Many communities across the country have begun to remove statues and other symbols of the confederacy from parks and other public spaces. Some have been removed or toppled by protesters but just this month alone, 19 statues have been removed. Only three were taken down by protesters. I point this out not to condone the unsanctioned removal of statues but as a reminder that without government and community action, these symbols will continue to perpetuate racism and inspire hate and malice on both sides of this issue. Especially on public lands, which often have a racist history of their own. It is essential that we tell a story that can be embraced by all americans. This is not about erasing history. Museums and historic battle fields will continue to tell the story of the conflict and circumstance that led to the confederacy taking up arms against the United States, but our shared heritage need not glorify the hate, bigotry, and intolerance that resulted in a war that claimed more american lives than any other in u. S. History. Clear. Be the civil war was fought over slavery. That is not a subject for debate. As a country, we must strive to be better, to embrace justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of our lives. Stop atoning should not the confederacy either. Looking forward, i hope we can also take steps to address other places throughout the country. Glorifye names that individuals responsible for committing unspeakable atrocities. We also need to invest in education and interpretation to ensure that this history is not lost or else we are dooming ourselves to repeat it here rather than prioritize education, President Trump has decided to focus on a few acts of petty vandalism to justify sending anonymous federal troops into our cities to kidnap and harass our citizens. Often over the objections of local governors, mayors, and other civic leaders. This is not how we heal and move Forward Together as a society. Something that we are still seeking 150 years after president lincolns second inaugural address which was delivered weeks before general lees surrender and lincolns assassination in washington, d. C. The last line of that now famous speech, he said, with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness and the right that god gives us, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nations wounds, to care for him, who shall have borne the battle for his widow and orphan, to do all which may cherish ad lasting peace amongst ourselves and all nations. Clearly, we are still striving for that just and lasting peace and hope todays conversation can help us move towards that seemingly elusive goal. With that, i will recognize our Ranking Member, mr. Curtis, for his opening statement. Thank you, madam chairman, for your remarks. Thank you, for joining us today. There are three bills related to monuments and memorials which include symbols or depicts figures associated with the confederacy. 970, would remove a statue of the confederate general robert e lee from the National Battlefield statue which was placed on private property in 2003 and was purchased by the National Park service in 2005. Next we have hr 4135, offered by congress in homes of d. C. , which will congressman holmes of d. C. That has been the source of controversy since before it was erected in 1901. Recently, the statue was torn down from its pedestal and set ablaze. We have hr 755 zero, offered by congressman mcewan of virginia which would require a study to monuments located on federal lands. I commend the authors of the legislation before us today. The legislative process which will provide a variety of diverse opinions through elected representation, is the appropriate avenue to make the decisions about which statues should be on public property. I believe this hearing can serve as an opportunity to hear a variety of views. I am particularly interested to learn the underlying principles that determine what should or should not be put on public property. I hope we all agree that vandalism is never the answer, especially when there is a legal route to change. Highprofilen some vandalism of confederate statues and memorials. Other acts of vandalism have targeted more broadly supported statues, such as unknown vandals in new york or down a statue of the abolitionist icon frederick douglass. Other vandals tore down a statue of Hans Christian and decapitated it. He fought for the union during the civil war and the first opponent of slavery and early member of the free soil party. Memorial of George Washington and baltimore was graffiti with paint. In san francisco, protesters defaced and toppled a statue of former president grand, who led the union army during the civil war. Replacing our country Legal Framework with mob rule is a threat to our representative democracy. We are lucky to live in a country where it is possible to petition our leaders and the dany we no longer have that right, america will see the day we no longer have that right, america will cease. No nation has done more to defend principles of liberty and freedom. Our Founding Fathers understood that our nation was imperfect, from its inception in the preamble to the constitution states, in order to form a more Perfect Union, we remain an imPerfect Union today. The american experiment in representation democracy will be a work in progress. Our Founding Fathers were not perfect people. None of us are. Despite their flaws, we should continue to honor them for the monumental feat they undertook to successfully fight for our freedom and then set up a system to sustain that freedom. We should be able to discuss historic figures and admirable traits as well as the less admirable traits. I believe that 100 years from now, our great grandchildren will look back at us with this appointment for some of our actions that may seem or feel acceptable today despite earnestly trying our best. History has shown that judgment uses a different paradigm from many years down the road. I hope we in congress can Work Together to elevate our Public Discourse and have nuanced and thoughtful debate on these important topics. The best part of my job as a member of congress, and i wish i could give to american every day as service, is learning from diverse perspectives from across the country. Despite my best efforts, this year, just a 59 years old, i am now 60. White, gray, and injured, and will die from utah, coming an old guy from utah. I am excited and i need this opportunity to learn and listen, and i hope these conversations today can unite us in a way that will bring us back home together. Therefore, one of my primary goals of this hearing is to understand what my colleagues on both sides of the aisle feel should be an underlying framework determining if a statue should be should remain or be removed. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today. I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you so much, Ranking Member curtis. I would like to turn our first panel and welcome members of congress who wish to testify on the bills they have sponsored. Let me remind the witnesses that under our Committee Rules, they must limit their statements to five minutes but that their entire statement will appear in the record. When you begin the timer, we will start. When it turns orange, you have one minute remaining. It is read when your time is expired. They mayrid view so pin the timer on their screen after the testimony is complete. Please remember to meet yourselves to avoid any inadvertent background noise. We will also allow the entire panel to testify before questioning the witnesses. Thechair now recognizes gentleman from maryland, mr. Brown, for five minutes. Clock, can i just asked, i know each committee is slightly different. Is it proper in this committee that when members or witnesses present and turn that presentation only, we can remove our face masks . Ok. Thank you. Thank you, chairwoman. I want to thank also the chairman for having me here today and for including hr 970, the Robert E Lee Statue removal act as part of todays legislative hearing. I want to thank my colleagues for their work on this issue. We are all incredibly proud of our National Parks and public lands. They preserve the Natural Landscapes and represent the tapestry of our National History and that history can be painful. Yet we are reminded that we have not had an honest accounting of that history. For too long, we have been blind to the way past injustices continues to shape the present. The question before us today is straightforward. Do confederate flags and monuments have any place in our National Parks . To answer this question, i simply ask myself what is statues and symbols commemorated. The glorification of the confederacy, its traitorous leaders, their cause of slavery and open rebellion against the United States of america. In my mind, there is only one side and the civil war we should be honoring, the united dates, and all those americans in the north and south who fought against those who tried to divide our country and perpetuate a system of systemic oppression and racial subjugation, and therefore, it is time for these monuments to come down. The statues and monuments were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by apologists, segregationists, and opponents of civil rights. They cashed confederate soldiers as heroes fighting for a supposed lost cause and celebrated their traitorous leaders. In the heyday of monument building, a period that began in 1890, and spanned 21920, was also a time of extreme racial violence, violence we saw again during the 1960s and 1970s when white southerners pushed back against what little progress had been made by black americans. , men,uments went up women, and children were being lynched. It served as a reminder that White Supremacists these monuments became beacons of White Supremacy and symbols of an effort to intimidate black americans into seeing themselves as inferior and less than. These monuments do nothing to teach us of the dark lessons of our history but are the very center of the white supremacist, racist imagination p my bill would remove one of many such works from federal land. This statue of robert e lee on the battlefield, the place where more americans died in a single day was commissioned with the express intent of honoring the in 2003. Cy and delta 100 38 years after the end of the civil war. The 24 foot statue of lee is not historically accurate and despite an interruption stating otherwise, honors a man who fought to preserve the institution of slavery. There is no reason why any of our nations public spaces should be defiled by monuments to those who betray their country, and as a nation, we can decide between those figures and causes who deserve to be honored and those who do not. Public land should not be home to symbols of hate and bigotry that memorialize leaders who fought for disunion and oppression. Statues and monuments are to celebrate the brave individuals who fought and died in our country and true american values. Not an insult to any state or region. It would simply be an acknowledgment that the cause of slavery was wrong, that the imposition of jim crow and violent resistance into civil rights and Economic Advancement for all people was wrong. While there is much more yet to be done, we have a long way to go. Today could be an important step towards truly transforming this country for the better and again taking a step towards forming a more Perfect Union. For those who are concerned that by removing the statues, we will erase history and somehow be destined to relive that history, ice and please confederate soldiers and the confederacy itself will continue to be written about and studied as a part of the dark history of our nation. There will be appropriate settings perhaps like museums or libraries where physical objects will be found that remind us of slavery. Orts to defend we need not honor this with statues and monuments in public spaces such as National Parks. Even robert ely opposed the construction of monuments commemorating the vanquished robert e lee opposed the construction of monuments commemorating the confederacy. He said i think it wise and moreover not to keep open the source of war but to follow the war but who commit to oblivion the feelings engendered. Thank you, madam chair. Thank you, mr. Brown. The chair now recognizes the gentlelady from the district of columbia, miss norton. Chair. K you, madam i think your fellow Committee Leaders and fellow panelists. Thank you for allowing me to testify on my bill to permanently remove the statue of the confederate general, albert pike, from federal land. Near Judiciary Square in the nations capital. Was authorized not by the district of columbia but by congress in 1898 when the district had no home rule. That is to say, selfgoverning authority. It was constructed using both federal and private funds. The freemasons, of which pike was a member and donated the money were much of it, needed to build and install the statues in 1901. The freemasons themselves support the statues removal. They say given its decisive nature divisive nature, it is time for her to go. Although the statue was taken down during a demonstration, President Trump reportedly has called for the statue to be put back up. Should bethe statues placed in museums as valuable historical artifacts, when combined with the story of their meaning and our history. Whoas a confederate general served dishonorably and was forced to resign in disgrace. Command,und under his heat mutilated bodies of union soldiers. He was ultimately imprisoned after his fellow officers reported he had misappropriated ofds, adding to the dishonor taking up arms against the United States, he disarmed even his Confederate Military servants. He certainly has no claim to be memorialized in the nations capital. Even those who do not want confederate statues removed should have to justify awarding pike any honor, considering this history. Er reading with the meeting with the freemasons in 2017, i decided the best course of action would be to remove the statues and find a more appropriate place for them. Although my bill does not expose it lycee where the statues should be placed, i believe a museum and adding Historical Context would be the most a