John Boehner calls for ‘adult’ debate in Congress about Confederate symbols

Dylan Stableford
·Senior Writer
Updated
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Boehner speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday. (Photo: Cliff Owen/AP)

House Speaker John Boehner called for an “adult” debate over the display of the Confederate flag over a measure Republicans put forward to continue to permit its display at certain National Park Service-run cemeteries.

“We all witnessed the people of Charleston and the people of South Carolina come together in a respectful way to deal with, frankly, what was a very horrific crime and a difficult issue about the Confederate flag,” Boehner told reporters Thursday morning. “I actually think it’s time for some adults here in the Congress to actually sit down and have a conversation about how to address this issue.”

The Ohio Republican confirmed the cancelation of a planned vote that would’ve reversed amendments successfully added by House Democrats this week that would ban the use of federal funds for displaying the Confederate flag on federal land.

“That bill is going to sit in abeyance until we come to some resolution,” Boehner said.

“What exactly is the tradition of the Confederate battle flag that we’re supporting?” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, asked shortly before Boehner’s announcement. “Is it slavery, rape, kidnap, treason, genocide, or all of the above?”

The halt of the vote comes hours after South Carolina lawmakers approved a bill moving the Confederate flag off Statehouse grounds after a contentious debate that lasted more than 13 hours.

That decision comes in the wake of the shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., where nine black church members, including S.C. State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, were killed during at a Bible study session on June 17. The alleged gunman, Dylann Roof, was seen waving Confederate flags in photos posted to social media before the rampage.

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The Confederate flag flies near the South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia last month. (Photo: Rainier Ehrhardt/AP)

As that bill was on the verge of passing in South Carolina late Wednesday, House Republicans in Washington scheduled a surprise vote for Thursday to undo the Democratic amendments that were made to the congressional Interior spending bill on Tuesday.

The GOP proposal “would have permitted the limited display of the Confederate flag at Park Service-run cemeteries in states that observe a holiday commemorating the Confederacy, and only at the graves of rebels who died in the Civil War,” according to the Associated Press, which said the measure would have affected 10 graveyards in five Southern states.

Boehner said while he personally does not support allowing the display of Confederate flags in federal cemeteries, he did not “want this to become some political football.”

“I want members on both sides of the aisle to sit down, and let’s have a conversation about how to address what, frankly, has become a very thorny issue,” he said.

Other frankly thorny issues for Republicans these days: Donald Trump’s controversial comments about Mexican immigrants.

“I disagree with Mr. Trump’s comments,” Boehner said. “And, frankly, when you look at the presidential candidates, they have all pretty well made their position clear. This has become the biggest political football I’ve seen in my congressional career, this whole issue of illegal immigration and what to do about it.”