{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://clyburn.house.gov/press-release/clyburn-testimony-rules-committee-support-clyburn-smith-amendment-ndaa", "Clyburn Testimony at Rules Committee in Support of Clyburn-Smith Amendment to NDAA", "2016-05-17", "2016", "2016-05", "Democrat", "House", "SC", "James Clyburn", "C000537", "clyburn.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. House Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn delivered the following statement at today\u2019s meeting of the Rules Committee considering amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (as prepared for delivery):\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThank you, Mr. Chairman and Madam Ranking Member, for the opportunity to testify before you today on the Clyburn-Smith amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThis amendment would prohibit senior ROTC programs at any institution that displays the Confederate battle flag in a location other than a museum exhibit.\u00a0 This objectionable banner, which was never the official flag of the Confederacy, is a symbol of hate, racial oppression, resistance to the rule of law, and white supremacy.\u00a0 Any doubt as to the flag\u2019s meaning was erased by the perpetrator of the horrific shootings at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17 of last year.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cRegrettably, the Confederate battle flag still flies in my congressional district at The Citadel, just two miles away from Mother Emanuel.\u00a0 The Citadel is the alma mater of one of the Emanuel victims, and six employees lost family members in the attack.\u00a0 This flag must come down.\u00a0\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhile The Citadel\u2019s Board of Visitors has taken a symbolic vote expressing support for the flag\u2019s removal, the Board members believe that they are barred from actually removing it until the South Carolina state legislature acts to revise or repeal the so-called Heritage Act.\u00a0 I happen to disagree with this legal judgment, but regardless, the flag still flies.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe bill as reported by the Armed Services Committee uses the Board\u2019s hollow gesture to allow The Citadel to continue receiving federal funds for its ROTC program indefinitely, with no further action required to actually take the flag down.\u00a0 But the bottom line is clear: the Confederate battle flag will not be removed from The Citadel until pressure is brought to bear on those with the authority to remove it.\u00a0 And Americans\u2019 tax dollars should be directed to institutions free of symbols of hatred.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIn recent days, Citadel alumni have reached out to me to express their support for this effort.\u00a0 One of these alumni, Dr. Larry Ferguson, was a member of The Citadel Class of 1973, which was the first class with more than one African American.\u00a0 Dr. Ferguson desegregated The Citadel\u2019s Regimental Band Company but was subsequently kicked out of the band for refusing to play the song \u2018Dixie\u2019 and refusing to wave the Confederate battle flag at sporting events.\u00a0\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cDr. Ferguson writes, \u201850 years ago it took external pressure to make The Citadel desegregate its Corps of Cadets.\u00a0 This legislation will exert appropriate pressure on state authorities so that the Confederate flag will be removed from Summerall Chapel.\u2019\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI received another letter from a group of 17 alumni from the 1980s and 1990s.\u00a0 They write that the Confederate battle flag \u2018is representative of an ideology of hate, privilege and an abuse of power that still persists in the life of the school and in the state\u2019s halls of power and influence. The fact that in 2016 the Confederate Naval Jack Flag hangs in a public space of worship, on the campus of a public college, and is protected by an unjust law is clear evidence of this reality.\u00a0 While we continue to work energetically to have the flag removed immediately from the chapel premises, we remain in support of your efforts to address this at the federal level of government.\u2019\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI urge my colleagues to heed the voices of these Citadel alumni so that no more cadets will have to struggle in the shadow of this oppressive banner.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt is important to note that even if the Clyburn-Smith amendment is enacted into law, no current student would be affected.\u00a0 All current students would be allowed to keep their ROTC scholarships, complete their programs, and receive their commissions.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIn spite of the Administration\u2019s expression of concern to the contrary, this measure is constitutional, as is the underlying text of the bill, under the military deference doctrine.\u00a0\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cExplaining the reasons for this doctrine, under which military regulations are given greater deference than those in a purely civilian context, the Supreme Court has observed, \u2018To accomplish its mission, the military must foster instinctive obedience, unity, commitment, and esprit de corps.\u2019\u00a0 Without a doubt, the Confederate battle flag undermines unity and esprit de corps.\u00a0\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cFor this reason, the military constitutionally restricts displays of the Confederate battle flag by service members on active duty.\u00a0 Similarly, it is unquestionably constitutional for the military to require that any institutions that train its officers not display this hateful banner.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe policy advanced by the Clyburn-Smith amendment received bipartisan support among members of the Armed Services Committee.\u00a0 I respectfully urge this committee to make the Clyburn-Smith amendment in order so that all members of the House can have the opportunity to consider this important issue.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://clyburn.house.gov/press-release/clyburn-testimony-rules-committee-support-clyburn-smith-amendment-ndaa"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7460119668394327, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}