Confederate flag controversy simmers on in Congress

WASHINGTON - The battle over the Confederate flag isn't over in Congress.

Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the assistant Democratic leader, said Friday he's not giving up his effort to force the flag's removal from a chapel at The Citadel military college in South Carolina. On Thursday, Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee voted down that proposal by Clyburn and Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state.

“What I did last night was to remind people that ... to continue to romance this flag rather than retiring it to a museum where it ought to be is just not a good thing for the state of South Carolina or for the country, for that matter,’’ Clyburn said Friday.

The Armed Services Committee action was just the latest congressional skirmish over the Confederate flag.

Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson fought to remove all items from the House of Representatives that feature the flag emblem, including the flag of his home state of Mississippi.

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“The flag ought to be in a museum,'' he said. "We’re not saying bury it.''

And earlier this month, Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., chairwoman of the House Administration Committee, announced that this fall, the state flags hanging in a tunnel connecting a House office building to the Capitol — including Mississippi's flag — will be replaced with prints of each state's commemorative coin.

“Given the controversy surrounding Confederate imagery, I decided to install a new display,’’ she said in a statement.

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Removing the flag from public places has stirred emotional debates in statehouses and city halls, particularly in the South. For some, the flag represents a rich heritage. For others, particularly African Americans, it symbolizes hatred and bigotry.

Clyburn said the flag isn't just a Southern issue but a congressional issue.

“Those of us who are Southerners in this place want to be at a place where we all could be proud of our region of the country,’’ he said. “We’re going to work hard to get to that.’’

Thursday's Armed Services Committee vote was along party lines. The defense bill amendment proposed by Clyburn and Smith, the committee's top Democrat, would have cut federal funding for Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) programs at institutions that display the Confederate flag. It was designed to target the Citadel.

Rep. John Fleming, R-La., a committee member, said South Carolina officials should handle the issue. The Citadel “should not be arbitrarily penalized by having Democrats cut ROTC funding,’’ he said.

Clyburn's response: “It was a congressional issue when they integrated schools wasn’t it?''

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The Citadel’s Board of Visitors voted last summer to remove the Confederate flag from its chapel, but state officials said it couldn’t be done under the state's Heritage Act without action by state lawmakers. Those lawmakers said they don't plan to change the law, which is designed to protect South Carolina's monuments and memorials.

The law was used last year when lawmakers voted to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the state Capitol after a white gunman shot nine black parishioners at a church in Charleston.

Thompson said he's in "full agreement" with Miller's decision to remove the state flags from the Capitol Hill tunnel as a way to resolve objections to his state's flag. He said Mississippi also needs to change the flag.

“There are a lot of places that have decided that displaying the flag is offensive to too many citizens," he said Friday. "I’ve done my part here at the Capitol on the House side.''

But Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., disagrees with Miller's decision.

“If Bennie feels very strongly, as he does, about his home state flag, he needs to come home and try to change his flag,’’ Duncan said. “But it’s a disservice to South Carolina. We don’t have the Confederate flag on our flag. Let our state flag stay.’’

Jeppie Barbour, a former mayor of Yazoo City, Miss., said his state flag shouldn't be changed because “it pays respect to our ancestors who fought for the Confederacy.''

“What do you expect out of these buffoons?’’ he said of Miller's decision. “They’ll do anything up there to look good... That’s a coward’s way out.’’

Contributing: Tim Smith of the Greenville News

Contact Deborah Barfield Berry at dberry@gannett.com. Twitter: @dberrygannett