House OKS bill to remove Capitol Confederate statues
The House has approved a bill to remove statues of Robert E. Lee and other Confederate leaders from the
U.S. Capitol, as well as a bust of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the author of the 1857 Dred Scott decision that declared African Americans couldn’t be citizens.
Besides Taney, the bill would direct the Architect of the Capitol to identify and eventually remove from Statuary Hall at least 10 statues honoring Confederate officials, including Lee, the commanding general of the Confederate Army, and Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president.
Three statues honoring white supremacists — including former U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun of South Carolina — would be immediately removed.
“Defenders and purveyors of sedition, slavery, segregation and white supremacy have no place in this temple of liberty,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said at a Capitol news conference ahead of the House vote.
The House approved the bill 305-113, sending it to the Republican-controlled Senate, where prospects are uncertain.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says his administration is providing an additional $5 billion to nursing homes, which have borne a disproportionate share of the death toll in the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump made the announcement Wednesday at the White House. He said the money is in addition to other actions, such as a push to facilitate testing of nursing home staff and a commitment to share inspection data on low-performing nursing homes with state authorities.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Wednesday it will now require all nursing homes in states with overall positive testing result of 5 percent or more to test all staff weekly. Vice President Mike Pence said tests will be shipped on a priority basis to where the need is greatest, and the goal is to get them all distributed in roughly the next five weeks.
Trump on Wednesday cast wide blame for a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases, pointing to racial justice protests, travelers from Mexico and young bar-goers.
Holding his second briefing on the virus in as many days after a three-month hiatus, Trump sought to explain the rise in confirmed cases across the nation’s South, Southwest and West.
Trump said cases among young Americans first started to rise “shortly after demonstrations.” He said the protests following the death of George Floyd “presumably triggered a broader relaxation of mitigation efforts nationwide.”
He also said a “substantial increase in travel” around Memorial Day and summer vacations was also a driver of new cases.
Further, he said, “Young people closely congregating at bars and probably other places, maybe beaches,” likely also led to new cases.
Trump also blamed travelers crossing the U.s.-mexico border for spikes, saying cases in Mexico are surging. In other developments:
The Trump administration will pay Pfizer nearly $2 billion for a December delivery of 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine the pharmaceutical company is developing, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced Wednesday. The U.S. could buy another 500 million doses under the agreement, Azar said.
Senate Republicans and the
White House reached tentative agreement late Wednesday for more testing funds in the next COVID-19 relief package. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell was preparing to roll out a “handful” of COVID-19 aid bills instead of a single package. The legislation is now expected as soon as Thursday. “Very productive meeting,”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said while exiting a late session at the Capitol.
With coronavirus cases rising, Mayor Muriel Bowser issued an executive order Wednesday making face masks mandatory outside homes, an unprecedented step in the nation’s capital. Bowser said the order would include “enforcement language” detailing possible fines for violations.