PRINTER'S NO. 2985
No. 368 Session of 2000
INTRODUCED BY HORSEY, PESCI, ROBINSON, BROWNE, TRICH, MELIO,
STURLA, ALLEN, JOSEPHS, WASHINGTON, SANTONI, RUBLEY,
MANDERINO, WALKO, DALEY, YOUNGBLOOD, ROEBUCK, FRANKEL,
KIRKLAND, WILLIAMS, M. COHEN, DeWEESE, RAMOS, BISHOP, CARN,
EVANS, JAMES, MYERS, OLIVER, PRESTON, THOMAS AND WATERS,
FEBRUARY 15, 2000
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, FEBRUARY 15, 2000
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing the Legislature of the State of South Carolina to
2 remove the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina
3 State Capitol Building.
4 WHEREAS, The Confederate battle flag was raised in 1962 over
5 the South Carolina State Capitol Building to commemorate the
6 Civil War centennial and serves as an enduring symbol of war,
7 secession, slavery, segregation and racism; and
8 WHEREAS, South Carolina, the first state to secede from our
9 beloved union on December 20, 1860, is the only state that still
10 flies the Confederate battle flag above its Capitol; and
11 WHEREAS, We are all proud and patriotic citizens of the
12 United States of America and therefore only symbols of unity,
13 equality and freedom should fly from public buildings; and
14 WHEREAS, The National Association for the Advancement of
15 Colored People (NAACP) launched an economic boycott against the
16 state's $14.1 billion tourist industry on January 1, 2000, to
1 urge the South Carolina Legislature to take down the Confederate
2 battle flag; and it has been estimated that African-American
3 travelers spend more than $280 million a year in South Carolina;
4 and
5 WHEREAS, The NAACP continues its historic and worthy struggle
6 to have a single class of citizenship for every American
7 regardless of race and the Confederate battle flag symbolizes
8 the very antithesis of this noble idea; and
9 WHEREAS, On January 17, 2000, more than 47,000 protestors
10 marched on South Carolina's Statehouse to mark Martin Luther
11 King Jr.'s birthday with a protest worthy of his memory by
12 opposing the presence of the Confederate battle flag atop the
13 South Carolina State Capitol Building; and
14 WHEREAS, Only the South Carolina State Legislature can remove
15 the flag; therefore be it
16 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
17 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania express its desire that the South
18 Carolina State Legislature take the necessary and proper action
19 to remove the Confederate battle flag from its state capitol
20 building; and be it further
21 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
22 the Speaker of the South Carolina State House, the President of
23 the South Carolina State Senate and the Governor of South
24 Carolina.
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