Bill supported by Gov. Haley passes.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: The South Carolina Senate cast a third and final vote Tuesday on a bill supported by Gov. Nikki Haley that would nix the prominent Confederate flag from the statehouse premises.
The final tally was 36-3, according to NPR, and the House will now take up the issue, perhaps as early as Wednesday.
In both the Senate and the House, a vote on removing the flag will require a two-thirds majority. The bill being considered would relocate the flag to the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum.
The flying of the Confederate flag has become a hot-button issue across the nation, especially in the southern states, after the horrific massacre of nine black church members in Charleston last month was attributed to white supremacy.
The S.C. Senate had previously voted 37-3 to advance the bill after its second reading Monday, defeating several attempts to offer alternate plans — such as flying a different Confederate flag, or flying the battle flag only on Confederate Memorial Day.
The debate in the House is supposed to be much more heated, and perhaps more drawn out than it was in the Senate, according to the New York Times, but according to the newspaper’s sources many believe the flag will be removed from the capitol grounds.
“The alleged killer of the Charleston nine used that flag as a symbol of hatred and bigotry and racism.” “Let today be the beginning of a story about a new South Carolina,” said Democratic Sen. Joel Lourie on Monday, per the Washington Post. “A story of how we removed a symbol that helped heal a nation and a state in their mourning,” he added.