On Thursday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was on the House floor to promote Amendment No. 94, which aimed to prohibit “funds from being used to remove any monument on land under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior.” This bit of political theater was in response to the recent melting down of a statue of American traitor Robert E. Lee, which had formerly stood in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Greene’s amendment was supported by Rep. Clay Higgins (a disgraced former sheriff) and Rep. Ryan Zinke (a corrupt former Interior secretary, appointed by Donald Trump, who ultimately resigned). Zinke seemed confused as to what the amendment he was supporting actually protects. According to him, it “only pertains to monuments that commemorate the Founding Fathers.” Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine read the amendment back to Zinke, which describes “any monument,” and is not limited to the Founding Fathers.
Then Greene gave a short speech saying Democratic forces were accusing Republicans of “book burning” when it was liberals who were trying to “destroy our nation’s history” by melting down the statue of Lee.
Pingree’s response was short and sweet:
So just to clear up a couple of things: My colleague mentioned the “Founding Fathers.” Robert E. Lee was not actually one of the Founding Fathers. He was a general of the Confederacy. That was the city of Charlottesville. That wasn’t a national monument when that statue was removed. And I, I just have to say, I find it rich that the party that has supported book banning in our libraries, rewriting curriculum, not talking about our history over and over again, is the very one that is saying that we have to often keep painful monuments in places where they do damage, where they interfere with people’s ability to enjoy the particular area that they’re in, and leave it to the Department of Interior to have that discretion.
So if we’re going to get into talking about book banning and rewriting history, let’s have an honest debate about it and talk about the differences between our two parties on this. I oppose this amendment and I yield back.
The Republican Party wasted America’s time by going without a House speaker for more than three weeks, and now they’re continuing to waste America’s time and money by promoting what Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called a “stunningly unserious” funding plan. Now, as part of Republicans’ HR 4821 bill—their funding plan for the Department of the Interior and assorted environmental agencies—they’re promoting petty amendments like Rep. Lauren Boebert’s successful Amendment No. 20, which would take money away from the Environmental Protection Agency because it bothers her fossil fuel donors, as well as Greene’s silly statue ban amendment—which ultimately failed to garner enough support to make it into the appropriations bill.
