Democratic Representative Bobby Rush introduced a bill that would use $150,000,000 in federal funds to “remove and replace” Confederate monuments.
The February bill, Rejecting and Eliminating the Foul Use of Symbols Exulting Confederate Principles Act’ – or the ‘REFUSE Confederate Principles Act – would launch a National Park Service program called the ‘‘Emancipation Historic Preservation Program.”
The program would “award grants to eligible” entities and endeavors as outlined in section two of the bill for:
removing a Confederate symbol;
removing and replacing a Confederate symbol with an alternative monument, memorial, statue, commemorative structure, symbol, or signage;
remove and replace a Confederate symbol with an alternative monument, memorial, statue, commemorative structure, symbol, or signage to commemorate or depict the freedom of enslaved African Americans;
“There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to provide grants under this section, $15,000,000 for each fiscal year through 2031,” the bill adds.
The 6-page bill is also clear that “none of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the Secretary, the Director, or an eligible entity for the preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, reconstruction, or new construction of a Confederate symbol.”
