LegiStorm

Summary:

In the wake of violent incidents in which symbols of the Civil War Confederacy have played a role, Congress is considering the relationship of Confederate symbols to federal lands and programs. A number of federal agencies administer assets or fund activities in which Confederate memorials and references to Confederate history are present. This report focuses on three federal entities—the National Park Service (NPS), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Department of Defense (DOD)—that manage multiple sites or programs involving Confederate symbols. The report discusses the agencies’ policies concerning Confederate symbols, recent legislative proposals, and issues for Congress. NPS manages over 70 units of the National Park System related to Civil War history, some of which contain works commemorating Confederate soldiers or actions. NPS also administers national cemeteries that display the Confederate flag at certain times. Further, the agency is connected with some state and local Confederate memorials through its historic preservation assistance to nonfederal sites. NPS manages its Confederate-related assets in the context of its statutory mission to preserve historic and cultural resources unimpaired for future generations. NPS engages in interpretation and education about these symbols. Through its National Cemetery Administration, the VA administers 135 national cemeteries, many of which contain the remains of Confederate soldiers. The VA also provides grants to assist with the establishment of state veterans’ cemeteries. Confederate graves in VA cemeteries may have a special headstone that includes the Southern Cross of Honor, and may display the Confederate flag at certain times. The VA website also identifies 34 monuments and memorials in national cemeteries that explicitly honor Confederate soldiers or officials. Management takes place in the context of the VA’s mandate to maintain national cemeteries as “national shrines.” Within DOD, the Army administers 10 major installations named after Confederate military leaders; there are no such installations for the other military departments. The Army also has jurisdiction over Arlington National Cemetery, which contains a section for Confederate graves and a monument to Confederate dead. More broadly, the military services have considered Confederate symbols in the context of policies for good order and discipline within units. Only the Navy has an overall policy on the display of the Confederate flag. The presence of Confederate symbols in federal lands and programs may raise multiple questions for Congress. Confederate flags, statues, plaques, and similar memorials have been valued historical symbols for some Americans, but for others have symbolized oppression and discrimination. How should differing views on the meaning of these symbols be addressed? What constitutes a Confederate symbol, and should some or all of these symbols be removed from federal sites, or alternatively, preserved for their historical or honorary significance? Are current interpretive efforts adequate to convey the history of these symbols, or should federal agencies offer additional education and dialogue about their role in Civil War history and in subsequent historical eras? How, if at all, should current practices of honoring the Confederate dead in national cemeteries be changed? To what extent, if any, should the presence of Confederate symbols at nonfederal sites affect federal funding for programs connected to these sites? Recent legislative proposals, including H.R. 3658, H.R. 3660, H.R. 3701/S. 1772, H.R. 3779, and H.Res. 12 in the 115th Congress, would address these issues in different ways. They range from bills concerned with individual Confederate symbols to those that would broadly affect all Confederate symbols on federal lands. In some cases, questions could arise about how the proposals would be implemented from a logistical and financial standpoint, and how they would interact with existing authorities.