The House voted to postpone a vote on a measure to require that the Mississippi state flag be removed from House areas and office buildings, a step the proposal’s Democratic sponsor said showed a lack of leadership by top House Republicans.
By a vote of 240 to 184, largely along party lines, the chamber referred the resolution offered by Rep. Bennie Thompson D-Mississippi to the House Administration Committee. It is unclear when the full House would vote on it.
Thompson said he felt the measure deserved a vote right away, but that Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy R-California decided to “punt” on the issue.
“I’ve been around this institution a long time and I know when people don’t want to take a tough vote and when you don’t want to take a tough vote, you refer it to committee,” Thompson told reporters, adding that he didn’t think it should be a tough vote for members.
The Mississippi Democrat, the only African-American in his state’s delegation, added, “this was a leadership moment that the United States House of Representatives failed.”
McCarthy took to the floor to explain his decision.
“I’m a big believer in the committee process to discuss all issues that come before the floor, especially one of this importance,” he said. “I think this resolution should be referred to the committee to give other members an opportunity to weigh in.”
Despite the setback, Thompson was “optimistic” his measure would be eventually be debated. He pointed to calls by Mississippi’s Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn and the state’s two U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran, both Republicans, to change the state flag by removing the Confederate battle flag from the upper left hand corner, as evidence of growing support for his point of view on the appropriateness of flying the current banner.
Thompson said he had spoken to Rep. Candice Miller, R-Michigan, the chair of the House Administration Committee, who assured him she “planned to go forward with hearings” on the issue.
“Our committee will give this measure every serious consideration and every thoughtful consideration,” Miller said on the floor, adding that the committee would like to hear from the rest of Mississippi’s congressional delegation and from elected officials at the state level on the issue.
While the timetable for debating the issue appeared uncertain, Thompson said he hoped to see movement soon — by the time members return from the Fourth of July recess.
A spokesperson for the committee could not confirm that Miller had agreed to hold a hearing and could not say what “every serious consideration” would entail. Spokesmen for McCarthy did not respond to a request for comment.
Thompson’s proposal comes after South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and other top politicians in that state called for the Confederate flag to be removed from the statehouse grounds after nine people were gunned down by a man who posed with the flag and expressed racist sentiments.
Mississippi’s state flag has come under scrutiny in the wake of debate surrounding the Confederate flag. Thompson acknowledged change could take time.
“I think it’s up to those of us who feel passionate about it to keep the conversation going,” Thompson said. “As someone who is still struggling for equality in this country, I’ve learned patience the hard way.”
Thompson introduced a “privileged resolution” late Wednesday afternoon and House rules provide that the issue be taken up within two legislative days. Since Democrats are in the minority, most privileged measures are defeated on party-line votes.
Most members of Congress display their state flags outside their offices on Capitol Hill, but Thompson, a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, does not post his own state’s flag because of its symbolism. Instead, he has the flags of two historically black colleges in addition to the American flag.
Currently, the Mississippi state flag is included with the other 49 state flags lining a tunnel that leads from a House office building to the Capitol.
Thompson said other caucus members are considering other resolutions that would direct the House to remove statues of Confederate war figures that were picked by some Southern states and are displayed in some areas of the Capitol.