South Carolina House votes to take down Confederate flag

After hours of debate on dozens of amendments, the South Carolina House voted early Thursday morning to remove the Confederate flag from the statehouse grounds, sending the bill to Gov. Nikki Haley (R), who is expected to sign it.

Several attempts were made by lawmakers to amend the bill approved earlier this week by the state Senate, but Republicans and Democrats finally agreed after over 13 hours to vote on a clean version of the legislation to take down the flag.

The bill passed with a final vote of 94-20 after three readings. The flag is expected to come down within days.

UPDATE 1:30 a.m.: Shortly after the bill’s passage, Gov. Haley posted the following statement on Facebook praising the legislature:

Today, as the Senate did before them, the House of Representatives has served the State of South Carolina and her people with great dignity. I’m grateful for their service and their compassion. It is a new day in South Carolina, a day we can all be proud of, a day that truly brings us all together as we continue to heal, as one people and one state.

South Carolina lawmakers have wrestled with displaying the Confederate flag following last month’s mass shooting in Charleston.

Nine people died during the June 17 attack on Emanuel AME Church’s predominantly African-American congregation there.

Dylann Storm Roof, the alleged shooter, reportedly displayed the Confederate flag on his car’s license plate.

The incident sparked national calls for Southern states to revisit their use of the historical emblem.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) praised his state’s decision to lower the flag after its vote on the matter Thursday morning.

“It means that we can move forward,” he said of the state legislature’s decision.
“It gives us a new start, a fresh start. Let’s take advantage of it.”

“It would be impossible, I think, to keep the flag up,” Graham said on CNN’s “New Day.”

“After the shooting, the flag became a symbol of this hateful young man,” the 2016 GOP presidential candidate said of Roof.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also commended South Carolina’s action on the flag Thursday morning.

“Removing this symbol of our nation’s racist past is an important step towards equality and civil rights in America,” Clinton said in a statement.

“We can’t hide from the hard truths about race and justice,” she added. “We must do everything in our power to have the courage to name them and change them.”

South Carolina state Rep. Jenny Horne (R) embodied her state’s struggle with the flag during a passionate speech at its House of Representatives before Thursday’s final vote.

“Remove this flag and do it today,” Horne told her fellow lawmakers amid tears. “Because this issue is not getting any better with age,” she said.

“And if any of you vote to amend, you are ensuring that this flag will fly beyond Friday,” Horne charged lawmakers opposing the flag’s lowering.