ALERT! South Carolina's Monument Protection Bill in JEOPARDY
Monument Protection Bill Is HALTED in the Senate!
Monument Protection Bill Is HALTED in the Senate!
An Alert from the South Carolina Division of the SCV
(SC Division SCV) - Dear Member of the South Carolina SCV, Friends, and Family
Your work last Thursday was tremendous. Now that it is a new week of the Senate in session, it is time for our next push to move S508 to the floor of the Senate for a vote.
Along with our effort to email and call your Senator on the matter of our bill (S508) to put teeth into the Heritage Act passed by the Senate Finance Committee, but has been BLOCKED from approval by the full Senate due to a procedural motion made by Chicago-born Senator Ed Sutton (D-Charleston). We believe this obstacle will be overcome, and the bill passed, but WE NEED YOUR HELP. At the sending of this email, Tuesday the 31st of March, we need everyone to answer the call, and please fulfill the charge today by sending the following email to your local State Senator:
Subject: Put S.508 on Special Order
Dear Senator ‘X’
As your constituent, I am asking you to support removing Senate Bill 508 from the Contested Calendar and placing it on the Special Order Calendar, so it may be voted on by the full Senate. This bill is co-sponsored by 70% of Senators and will correct significant deficiencies in the Heritage Act.
In this 250th year of our country, it is time to truly secure for future generations a key part of South Carolina’s historical inheritance, her monuments. We have already lost three monuments in the Palmetto State since 2020 due to loopholes in the Heritage Act. The time to pass S. 508 is now.
If you call after you email your Senator, be professional, cordial, and show the character of a strong, polite Southerner. Our legislative bodies are going to know that the people of South Carolina are adamant on protecting our history and the legacy that has been entrusted to us by our grandparents.
Once you have emailed and called your senator, we need to focus extra on the one senator who can get our bill through the next hurdle. Senator Massey, the Chairman of the Rules Committee, has to make a motion to remove S508 from the Contested Calendar and place it on Special Order. Please use this letter in your email to Senator Massey.
Senator Shane Massey
South Carolina Senate Majority Leader
311 Gressette Building
Columbia, SC 29201
RE: Placing Senate Bill 508 (Heritage Act) on Special Order
Dear Senator Massey,
As Chairman of the Rules Committee, I respectfully request that you make a motion to remove Senate Bill 508 from the Contested Calendar and place it on Special Order. Senate Bill 508 is authored by Senator Danny Verdin and co-sponsored by 70 percent of Senators, including yourself, which we greatly appreciate. This bill fixes deficiencies in the Heritage Act, which have allowed several historical monuments to be removed since 2020, including monuments to Christopher Columbus and Robert E. Lee. Both of these historical figures have been defended by President Trump, who has recently re-erected both a statue of Christopher Columbus and a statue of Confederate General Albert Pike in our nation’s capital. Now is the time to act in the Palmetto State.
Senate Bill 508 ensures that the intent of the grand compromise, known as the Heritage Act, is actually carried out. The bill clarifies that heritage groups can sue to enforce the Heritage Act and that woke editorials presented as historical plaques are in fact “alterations” under the law and thereby prohibited. The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) was one of the first targets of the woke movement, even before such a term existed. The purpose of the South Carolina Division of the SCV is simple; we remember those South Carolinians who answered the call of former Governor Francis Pickens and served honorably in the War Between the States. Many of these veterans’ grandfathers fought in the American Revolution, and many of their grandsons fought in World War II. May we never forget them.
Thank you for co-sponsoring Senate Bill 508 and considering our request that you make a motion to have it placed on Special Order.
Thank you all for your diligent efforts, and if there are any questions, please send them to the Chairman of the Legislative Committee. scdivltcommander@gmail.com
Legislative Committee
South Carolina Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans