© Calla Kessler/The Washington Post via Getty ImagesThe Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery is photographed on Aug. 17, 2017 in Arlington, Virginia
Despite efforts from a group of Republican lawmakers, a Confederate statue in the Arlington National Cemetery will be removed in the coming days.
The Reconciliation Monument, known as the Confederate Statue, is part of the push to remove military installations named after the Confederacy in the wake of the summer 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
According to a press release from the national cemetery, the statue will be removed from the cemetery by Dec. 22.
The move to remove the statue is in compliance with the Congressional mandate to remove all Confederate memorials by Jan. 1, 2024.
© Calla Kessler/The Washington Post via Getty ImagesThe Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery is photographed on Aug. 17, 2017 in Arlington, Virginia.
An Arlington National Cemetery spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital that safety fencing has been installed around the Confederate Memorial as preparation begins to deconstruct the memorial, which was erected in 1914.
While the work occurs, the surrounding landscape, graves, and headstones will be protected, the cemetery said.
© Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesMonument to the Confederate Dead, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, USA, photo by Theodor Horydczak.
In a letter to Secretary Austin, Clyde argued that the memorial was dedicated to American unity following the Civil War rather than honoring the Confederacy, and that it would desecrate the graves of Confederate troops buried there.
"Despite bipartisan support for this monument, the Naming Commission, established by the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, clearly overstepped its legislative authority when it recommended that the Department of the Army remove the Reconciliation Monument from Arlington National Cemetery," the lawmakers wrote.
"[T]he Reconciliation Monument does not honor nor commemorate the Confederacy; the memorial commemorates reconciliation and national unity.
Clyde, a Navy combat veteran, was joined on the letter by 43 other House Republicans.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin said that he also disagrees with the Biden administration's decision to remove the statue and the grave of Moses Ezekiel, the renowned sculptor of the memorial.
"The governor formally asked Secretary Austin to ensure that the grave of Moses Ezekiel and the accompanying memorial atop his grave remain in its revered location at the Arlington National Cemetery," Gov. Youngkin's spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"The governor is disappointed that the Biden administration still sought to remove the memorial but believes that the Newmarket battlefield state park in the Shenandoah Valley will provide a fitting backdrop to Ezekiel's legacy as a legendary sculptor and Virginian even though he disagrees with the Biden administration's decision to remove it," Porter said.
Rep. Andrew Clyde did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She is a native of Massachusetts and is based in Orlando, Florida. Story tips and ideas can be sent to sarah.rumpf@fox.com and on X: @s_rumpfwhitten.
Reader Comments
Remove History .... along with promoting queerdom and every other faggoty liberal garbage.
Old Czech lady that lived through it warned us when it started happening here.
Guess what? I give not a sh*t , since the new history is gonna tear them down quicker than a 44 magnum projectile. And their whole game is to piss you off, I won't give them my energy.... "loosh".
The world is a cohen-cidence
[Link]
How this can be any „controversial” for any American?
Let's recall: [Link]
- George Orwell, 1984