Removal Of Lee Statue In DC Sought By Alexandria Legislator

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Every state can have two statues in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall Collection. For Virginia, one of these is Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, and an Alexandria legislator wants to change that.

Del. Mark Levine, who represents parts of Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax County, introduced a bill to remove the Lee statue and set up a commission to find a replacement, The Richmond times-Dispatch reports. Virginia's other statue is of George Washington. Eight other Confederate statues are in the U.S. Capitol collection.

With a 51-49 Republican majority in the House, the bill faces an uphill battle. Levine says if legislators want to keep the Lee statue up, “let them say so publicly," according to the Times-Dispatch. Gov. Ralph Northam has advocated for removing Confederate statues in his campaign, but his spokesperson would not comment until the bill reaches the governor's desk.

Localities like Alexandria have sought to remove Confederate monuments, but they would need approval from the General Assembly first. In 2016,the city council voted to remove the Appomattox statue in Old Town, but the state legislature would not pass the required legislation.

But Alexandria has taken action other ways, beginning after the 2015 Charleston church shooting, when a picture surfaced of gunman Dylann Roof posing with a Confederate flag. The city had stopped a tradition of flying the Confederate flag at Washington and Prince streets on Lee's birthday and Confederate Memorial Day. Last year, the city quietly removed a painting of Lee from Alexandria City Hall, and the council is in the process of replacing the name of Confederate President Jefferson Davis on U.S. Route 1.

Other lawmakers have introduced bills to allow localities to remove Confederate monuments. Another Alexandria representative, Del. Charniele Herring, has proposed creating a state Monument Removal Fund to cover expenses of removing monuments with private funds.

Do you want to see the Lee statue removed, and which Virginian should replace him? Let us know in the comments.

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Image via U.S. Capitol