“There is no room in the hallowed halls of this democracy, this temple of democracy, to memorialize people who embody violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the Confederacy,” Pelosi said. “You have to see the remarks that they had made and how oblivious they were to what our founders had in mind in our country.”
The portraits of the four former House speakers hang in the Speaker’s Lobby, an area just off the House floor that serves as a gathering place for congressional events.
Pelosi said she sent a letter to the House clerk directing the removal of the portraits upon discovering the tenure of the men while “taking inventory” of statues at the Capitol.
“To appropriately observe Juneteenth this year, I write today to request the immediate removal of the portraits in the U.S. Capitol of four previous Speakers who served in the Confederacy,” she wrote.
The letter named Robert Hunter of Virginia (1839-1841), Howell Cobb of Georgia (1849-1851), James Orr of South Carolina (1857-1859) and Charles Crisp of Georgia (1891-1895).
The last speaker to have his portrait removed from that historical area was J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), who in 2015 pleaded guilty to laundering money to pay off a man he had sexually molested when he was a high school teacher.
During her news conference, Pelosi also touted a broad police reform bill, approved by a House committee Wednesday, that would ban chokeholds and certain no-knock warrants, among other measures.
The measure is being pushed in response to nationwide protests following the May 25 killing of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police and other instances of police misconduct involving African Americans.
Pelosi later announced a photo opportunity for Thursday afternoon for members of the media to witness the four portraits being taken down.
Her unilateral action comes amid a standoff with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) over whether to remove nearly a dozen Confederate statues from the Capitol.
Each U.S. state sends two statues to the Capitol collection, and they can be switched out at any time if approved by their state legislature and governor.
Last week, Pelosi sought to immediately remove 11 of the statues — an idea McConnell rejected, saying it should remain a state issue.
“What I do think is clearly a bridge too far is this nonsense that we need to airbrush the Capitol and scrub out everybody from years ago who had any connection to slavery,” McConnell told reporters this week.
He noted that states can “trade out” statues at any time.
“A number of states are trading them out now,” he said. “But I think that’s the appropriate way to deal with the statue issue. The states make that decision.”
On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) sought to force the issue by seeking unanimous consent to pass a bill that would prompt the removal of the Confederate statues.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) objected, saying that more time is needed to study the issue.
“Opponents of this bill will say that removing these statues is akin to forgetting or trying to erase history. No it is not,” Schumer said in remarks beforehand. “Remembering history is a lot different than celebrating it. We teach history in our schools and universities and museums. No doubt the Civil War will continue to merit study. But statues and memorials are symbols of honor, and we need not reserve them for men who represent such a dishonorable cause.”
