Politics

House Scraps Vote on Confederate Flag in Federal Cemeteries

Published

9 years ago

July 9, 2015

In this June 30, 2015 file photo, a Confederate flag flies at the base of Stone Mountain in Stone Mountain, Ga. The House is about to put its members on record on whether Confederate flags can decorate rebel graves in historic federal cemeteries and if their sale should be banned in national park gift shops. The vote comes after southern lawmakers complained that they were sandbagged two nights ago when the House voted without a recorded tally to ban the display of Confederate flags at historic federal cemeteries and strengthen Park Service policy against its sale in gift shops. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

In this June 30, 2015 file photo, a Confederate flag flies at the base of Stone Mountain in Stone Mountain, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

DAVID ESPO, Associated Press
ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Retreating under pressure, House Republicans scrapped plans for a vote Thursday on allowing the display of Confederate flags at Park Service-run cemeteries after Democrats protested furiously that the banner celebrates a murderous, racist past.

“What exactly is the tradition of the Confederate battle flag that we’re supporting?” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. challenged supporters of the proposal, shortly before the GOP leadership announced its decision.

“Is it slavery, rape, kidnap, treason, genocide or all of the above?”

No Republican rose to respond, although some officials privately charged that Democrats had falsely accused GOP lawmakers of racism and said the proposal would merely have written Obama administration policy into law.

Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio said it was time for “adults here in Congress to actually sit down and have a conversation about how to address the issue.”

Democratic protests aside, the vote had been slated for a politically awkward time — hours after the South Carolina Legislature decided to remove the Confederate flag from a pole on the grounds of the State capitol.

The decision abruptly halted debate on legislation providing funds for the Interior Department and related agencies. But the political significance was more far-reaching than an annual spending measure, marking the latest in a string of developments relating to the Confederate flag in the House.

Earlier in the week, lawmakers decided by voice vote and without controversy to ban the display of the Confederate flag in Park Service-run cemeteries.

But GOP leaders soon became concerned that the overall spending measure might fail — Democrats oppose it because they want more spending and some Republicans were unhappy with the prohibition on the flag.

That led to plans to reconsider the prohibition in a vote hurriedly set for afternoon — and a highly unusual statement by the measure’s chief Republican sponsor after the subsequent decision to reverse course.

Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., and chairman of the panel with jurisdiction over Park Service funding, said the now-abandoned proposal “had been brought to me by Leadership at the request of some southern” GOP lawmakers, and also would have written into law existing National Park Service regulations approved by the Obama administration.

At the same time, he said he regretted not telling Democrats in advance about his plans.

Rather than accept any apology, Democrats attacked at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

“These are these same House Republicans who voted for a party leader who once described himself as, quote, ‘David Duke without the baggage,’ ” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. He referred to Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the third-ranking leader.

For her part, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi offered legislation to remove all state flags containing any portion of the Confederate battle flag from the House side of the Capitol. Republicans prevented a vote on it by referring it to a committee — but Democrats slowed the tally by casting their votes manually instead of through an electronic tally system that is customarily employed.

At the same time, Boehner’s spokesman, Kevin Smith, accused Pelosi of a “cheap political stunt” after the speaker had called for a private talks on the issue. He said the bipartisan talks could potentially address Confederate symbols within the Capitol as well as at parks and cemeteries.

Whatever the political fallout, the now-defunct 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.

In line with a Park Service memorandum from 2010, it would have affected 10 graveyards, including four in Tennessee, three in Virginia and one each in Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia.

Park Service spokeswoman Kathy Kupper said one of the Confederate’s grave was at Andersonville cemetery in Georgia and two each were at Shiloh in Tennessee and Vickburg in Mississippi.

Among the 20,000 graves at the Vicksburg National Memorial park in Mississippi are two that hold the remains of Confederates, according to Ray Hamel, a park ranger at the site. He said both men — one from Texas and one from Arkansas — died in a nearby Union hospital and were mistakenly buried in the U.S. cemetery when it was established in 1866.

Hamel said that on national Memorial Day at the park, volunteers place small a small American flag by the gravesite of each U.S. soldier, and the two Confederate graves are decorated with the national flag of the Confederate States of America, with three wide bars — red, white, red — and a blue canton corner with a circle of 13 white stars.

Ironically, Kupper said nine confederates rest in graves at Gettysburg, Pa. The state does not observe a holiday in memory of the Confederacy.

_____

Eds: AP reporters Erica Werner and Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington and Emily Wagster Pettus in Mississippi contributed to this story

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Bay Area

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

Published

4 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor London Breed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

***PRESS RELEASE***

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

HUD’s Continuum of Care grant will support the City’s range of critical services and programs, including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and improved access to housing for survivors of domestic violence

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to support local programs with the goal of ending homelessness for individuals, families, and Transitional Age Youth.

This funding supports the city’s ongoing efforts that have helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness since 2018 through City programs including direct housing placements and relocation assistance. During that time San Francisco has also increased housing slots by 50%. San Francisco has the most permanent supportive housing of any county in the Bay Area, and the second most slots per capita than any city in the country.

“In San Francisco, we have worked aggressively to increase housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and we are building on these efforts every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “Every day our encampment outreach workers are going out to bring people indoors and our City workers are connecting people to housing and shelter. This support from the federal government is critical and will allow us to serve people in need and address encampments in our neighborhoods.”

The funding towards supporting the renewal projects in San Francisco include financial support for a mix of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and transitional housing projects. In addition, the CoC award will support Coordinated Entry projects to centralize the City’s various efforts to address homelessness. This includes $2.1 million in funding for the Coordinated Entry system to improve access to housing for youth and survivors of domestic violence.

“This is a good day for San Francisco,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “HUD’s Continuum of Care funding provides vital resources to a diversity of programs and projects that have helped people to stabilize in our community. This funding is a testament to our work and the work of our nonprofit partners.”

The 2024 Continuum of Care Renewal Awards Include:

$42.2 million for 29 renewal PSH projects that serve chronically homeless, veterans, and youth
$318,000 for one new PSH project, which will provide 98 affordable homes for low-income seniors in the Richmond District
$445,00 for one Transitional Housing (TH) project serving youth
$6.4 million dedicated to four Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects that serve families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence
$750,00 for two Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) projects
$2.1 million for three Coordinated Entry projects that serve families, youth, chronically homeless, and survivors of domestic violence

In addition, the 2023 CoC Planning Grant, now increased to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000, was also approved. Planning grants are submitted non-competitively and may be used to carry out the duties of operating a CoC, such as system evaluation and planning, monitoring, project and system performance improvement, providing trainings, partner collaborations, and conducting the PIT Count.

“We are very appreciative of HUD’s support in fulfilling our funding request for these critically important projects for San Francisco that help so many people trying to exit homelessness,” said Del Seymour, co-chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board. “This funding will make a real difference to people seeking services and support in their journey out of homelessness.”

In comparison to last year’s competition, this represents a $770,000 increase in funding, due to a new PSH project that was funded, an increase in some unit type Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and the larger CoC Planning Grant. In a year where more projects had to compete nationally against other communities, this represents a significant increase.

Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $3.16 billion for over 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs including new projects and renewals across the United States.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

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5 days ago

April 19, 2024

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.