Virginia Democrats Kill Senate Bill to Protect War Memorials

 

This week, Democrats in the Virginia Senate refused to allow a War Veterans Protection for Memorials bill out of committee for a vote.  This common sense legislation would create a process that would allow for public input and referendums before woke leaders would be allowed to destroy war memorials for appeasement of the few and political gains, as has happened in several democratically controlled cities in the Commonwealth. 

 

"Protection of memorials for war veterans. Provides that it is unlawful for localities or individuals to disturb or interfere with certain monuments, markers, and memorials for war veterans or to prevent citizens from taking proper measures and exercising proper means for the protection, preservation, and care of the monuments, markers, or memorials. The bill describes "disturb or interfere with" to include removing, damaging, or defacing monuments, markers, or memorials or, in the case of the Civil War, placing Union markings or monuments on previously designated Confederate memorials or placing Confederate markings or monuments on previously designated Union memorials. The bill also deletes current provisions that allow localities to remove, relocate, contextualize, or cover such monuments or memorials. The bill changes an existing advisory referendum provision by limiting its applicability to those monuments, markers, and memorials that were erected at least 40 years ago and by requiring a two-thirds majority vote, both by voters and by the governing body, before any monument can be removed, relocated, or covered. The bill also establishes a process whereby any person with an interest can initiate an action against a person or locality that damages or defaces a publicly owned monument if a locality or its officers have failed to take such action within 60 days of the damage or defacement."

The vote was along party lines, with 9 votes to pass it by, and 6 votes against, with the exception of Republican David R. Sutterlein, who voted with democrats to kill this very modest, common sense legislation.  

Poll after poll has shown that the majority of Virginians overwhelmingly support protecting war memorials and recent elections have proven that this subject matters to voters in Virginia.  

A similar House bill is still in committee.