(TRENTON) – There are currently 11 statues of people who served in the Confederacy on display in the U.S. Capitol Building, with some located just steps from the U.S. House of Representatives chamber.
The full Assembly on Thursday voted 55-1-17 to approve a measure (AR-178) to urge Congress to pass legislation to remove all Confederate statues in the U.S. Capitol Building.
The measure’s sponsors, Assembly Democrats Bill Moen (D-Camden, Gloucester), Angela McKnight (D-Hudson) and Anthony Verrelli (D-Mercer, Hunterdon) released the following joint statement:
“The monuments we keep within the United States Capitol are meant to reflect the ideals and achievement of our nation throughout its history; they are not value-neutral objects intended merely to ‘preserve history.’ The Confederate agenda has always been antithetical to our highest ideals as Americans, and to commemorate those responsible is a betrayal to our patriotism. The history of the Confederacy should be written in textbooks, not celebrated in the halls of the Capitol.”