[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10285]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            CONFEDERATE FLAG

  (Mr. PITTENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTENGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in full support of South 
Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's call to remove the Confederate battle 
flag from the South Carolina statehouse grounds, and North Carolina 
Governor Pat McCrory's call to discontinue State-issued Confederate 
flag license plates.
  As one who grew up in the South, Mr. Speaker, and a proud North 
Carolinian, I fully understand that to many the Confederate flag 
represents history and heritage of their forefathers who fought for 
self-governance of the States. However, I cannot ignore that this same 
flag has also been used as a symbol of hate, and therefore causes 
immense pain for many of our citizens--yes, our brothers and sisters.
  In Romans, chapter 14, the Apostle Paul writes, ``Let us therefore 
make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food''--or, might I add, 
a flag.
  Let us be proud of our heritage, and let us give our descendants 
reason to be proud of our proper and thoughtful works today.

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