Lawmakers 'punt' on request to remove Confederate flag from House

Deborah Barfield Berry
USA TODAY
11:08 a.m. EDT June 26, 2015

WASHINGTON — A Mississippi lawmaker's proposal to remove from the House all items bearing the Confederate battle flag faces an uncertain future after his colleagues voted Thursday to refer the proposal to committee.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, the only black member of Mississippi's congressional delegation, chided his colleagues.

"If we're going to debate it, we could have debated right there on the floor — today,'' Thompson, also the only Democrat in his state's delegation, said after the largely party-line vote. "In my opinion, they did not want to take a hard vote" ...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/06/25/confederate-flag-house-committee/29295299/