National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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Mr. CLYBURN. I am opposed in its current form.

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Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, this is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended.

This amendment would fight discrimination in the military, which erodes obedience, unity, commitment, and esprit de corps. The Supreme Court highlighted these four essential attributes in explaining the military deference doctrine, under which this amendment is constitutionally sound.

The first section of the amendment would prohibit senior ROTC programs in any institution that displays the Confederate battle flag. This objectionable banner, which has never been the official flag of the Confederacy, is a symbol of hate, racial oppression, resistance to the rule of law, and White supremacy.

Any doubt as to this flag's meaning was erased by the perpetrator of last summer's horrific shootings at Emanuel AME Church. Regrettably, the Confederate battle flag still flies at the Citadel, just 2 miles away from Mother Emanuel. I happen to disagree with the Citadel's board members' belief that they are barred from removing the flag until the South Carolina State Legislature acts to revise or repeal the so-called Heritage Act. But it is clear that this hateful symbol will not be removed until pressure is brought to bear on those with the authority to remove it.

In recent days, Citadel alumni have reached out to me to express their support for this effort. One of these alumni, Dr. Larry Ferguson, was a member of The Citadel class of 1973, the first class with more than one African American. Dr. Ferguson desegregated the band, but was subsequently kicked out of the band for refusing to wave the Confederate battle flag and play the song ``Dixie'' at sporting events.

I received another letter from a group of 17 alumni. They write that the Confederate battle flag ``is representative of an ideology of hate and privilege, and is an abuse of power that still persists in the life of the school and in the State's halls of power and influence.

``The fact that, in 2016, the Confederate Naval Jack flag hangs in a public place of worship, on the campus of a public college, and is protected by an unjust law is clear evidence of this reality.''

These letters make abundantly clear how the glorification of such an odious symbol at a military college undermines obedience, unity, commitment, and esprit de corps in our future military officers.

I will include in the Record both letters, and I urge my colleagues to heed the voice of these Citadel alumni so that no more cadets will have to struggle in the shadow of this oppressive banner. May 16, 2016.

Dear Congressman James Clyburn, I am writing to inform you of my support of your efforts to limit ROTC funding to The Citadel because of the displaying of the Confederate flag in the Summerall Chapel.

I am Dr. Larry J Ferguson a 1973 African-American graduate of The Citadel. When I entered The Citadel in the summer of 1969 our class was the fourth year of desegregation at The Citadel. But the class of 1973 is the first class that had more than one African-American in it. Nine of us entered The Citadel in 1969 and six of us graduated in 1973. I was the first African-American to desegregate The Citadel's Regimental Band Company. In 1970 as a young 18 year old sophomore I informed the administration that I would not play the song ``Dixie'' or participate in the celebratory waving of the Confederate flag at our sporting events. I was subsequently removed from the band and the administration threatened to take away my academic scholarship despite my having good grades. Thanks to my parents and attorney Daniel Martin, Sr. they successfully argued for me to keep my scholarship. Thanks also to Maj Clarence Richardson U.S. Army (Ret), I was able to transfer to C Co. where he was the tactical officer. I had a bitter/sweet 4 years at The Citadel. There were a few of my white class mates who went against the grain and let me know that I could count on them to be my friend. But the overwhelming tension always present around me was that I was only tolerated at The Citadel because of my race and because I stood up for racial justice.

One of the beginning ways to establish racial justice is to repudiate all symbols of racial oppression. The majority of African-Americans and many other people of various ethnicities find the Confederate flag and the song ``Dixie'' offensive because the flag and the song have long been associated with hate groups. These hate groups used the Confederate flag and the song ``Dixie'' as symbols directly connected to their culture of terrorism and hatred for African-Americans and for anyone who supported racial integration.

These Confederate symbols cannot de divorced from the hate groups that created a system of racial oppression and bigotry in these United States of America and as such they should only remain in places of historical reference--not public platforms of adulation. Let us teach our future generations that bigotry and racism are vigorously opposed in our society and that symbols that are directly connected to bigotry and racism are not to be celebrated in any form or fashion.

As a lifetime member of The Citadel Alumni Association and as a past member of The Citadel Board of Visitors I want to thank you Congressman Clyburn for addressing this issue. Recent history teaches us that 50 years ago it took external pressure to make The Citadel desegregate its Corps of Cadets. This legislation will exert appropriate pressure on state authorities so that the Confederate flag will be removed from Summerall Chapel thus allowing everyone who enters to be able to worship in dignity and solemnity. Yours Truly, Larry J Ferguson, DMD. ____ May 16, 2016. Congressman Jim Clyburn, Assistant Democratic Leader, 6th Congressional District of South Carolina, Washington, DC.

Dear Congressman Clyburn: Since 1939, the Confederate Flag, a historic emblem of racial intolerance flown by pro-slavery rebels both before and after the Civil War, is still currently being displayed in The Citadel's Summerall Chapel. The flag's presence in the most hallowed place on the entire campus, where cadets gather to worship, is an assault on the sensibilities of those who understand The Citadel's history, but do not share the values the flag has come to represent.

As black alumni of The Citadel, we acknowledge the school's efforts to remove this divisive symbol from our house of worship. We agree that a museum is a more appropriate place for the flag. Its current location in the school's chapel stands as an affront to those of us whose ancestors suffered racial violence, hatred, and bigotry under the shadow of that flag and its ideology.

As you know, the school's administration continues to suggest that it is constrained from removing the flag as a consequence of the Heritage Act. As we have stated in previous correspondence to the school, the Heritage Act is an unjust piece of legislation. We further contend that the Citadel's decision to ``follow the law'' (the Heritage Act) is a tactic to delay the flag's removal from the Chapel; it is an attempt to redirect responsibility for this matter to the South Carolina House of Representatives, whose Speaker, James Lucas, vowed to deny a vote on the issue. As a consequence, we hold both the school and the legislature equally responsible for the fact that the Confederate Flag still flies in the Chapel on campus. Also, it is not lost on us that the school's decision to ``follow the law'' (Heritage Act) in this moment is a bit disingenuous, particularly since the school, as a public institution, for years defied anti- discrimination laws related to the admission of Black people and women to the school. The Citadel cannot in one moment of history defy the law in order to preserve white and male privilege, while now representing itself as an abider of the law (the Heritage Act) while the flag still hangs in Summerall Chapel.

From the beginning of our fight to have the flag removed, we suspected that the school and the state would fail to muster the political will and moral courage to have the flag immediately removed from the chapel. For this reason, we are grateful and in solidarity with you and your colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives as you introduce measures to withhold federal funding for Reserve Officer's Training Corps programs from all colleges and universities displaying the Confederate flag.

In closing, our position reaches far beyond the issue of the Confederate flag. We believe that the school's ability to fulfill its obligation to develop principled leaders and to model the virtues of duty, honor, and respect are undermined by the continued veneration of a relic from a tragic chapter of America's history. For many of us, the flag is more than a symbol; it is 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's 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. 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.

Thank you for your leadership on this matter. As graduates of the school and allies in this fight, we stand firmly in solidarity with you. Sincerely, Hillery Douglas '82; Fr. W. Reginald Simmons '87; James Stevens '89; Garrick Benson '89; Johnny Orr '89; Ken Williams '89; Anthony Terrell '89 C. Gene Brown '89 Ronald Galvin '90; Oscar Douglas '90; Thomas Turnage '90; Jon Thomas '90; Gus Olalere '90; Morris Robinson '91; Lamont Melvin '91; Torrence Forney '93; Jamie Jenkins '98.

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Mr. CLYBURN. Make no mistake about it: a vote against this motion is a vote to continue flying the Confederate battle flag and allow discrimination at a military college.

I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney), my good friend.
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Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

A recorded vote was ordered.

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