Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY), Ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, today issued the following statement on Chairman Ken Calvert’s Confederate battle flag amendment and the Republican leadership’s subsequent decision to pull the Interior & Environment Appropriations bill from the House floor:
"It is shocking that it took a ham-fisted defense of the Confederate battle flag by the most extreme voices in the Republican conference to make Republican leadership realize this Interior bill was a losing proposition."
“I hope the Committee and Republican leadership think long and hard about how they got themselves into this mess, and will begin working constructively to repair the damage.
“The Confederate battle flag is a visible representation of prejudice and intolerance, and has no place on the grounds of this Capitol or any federal property. I am heartened that South Carolina’s action this morning indicates states may begin coming to this same conclusion.
“It should be crystal clear to everyone at this point that it is impossible to enact Appropriations bills at inadequate levels mandated by the Republican budget resolution, but adding damaging and ideological riders like Chairman Calvert’s Confederate battle flag amendment in order to attract the more extreme Republicans makes the impossible even harder to accomplish."
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
