THE LEDGER-STAR
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 25, 1995 TAG: 9501250637
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
Responding to a protest by 11 black members of Congress, the Republican chairman of the House Rules Committee has promised to remove the portrait of segregationist Virginia congressman Howard Smith from the panel's hearing room.
``I intend to replace it with another appropriate portrait,'' Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., said.
Solomon said he had ordered Smith's portrait displayed as a way of applauding Smith's fairness to Republicans during his tenure as committee chairman from 1955 to 1966.
``Members of the Black Caucus who have known me for a long time . . . know I would never knowingly display any symbol offensive to them in any way,'' Solomon said. ``Their expression of concern was more than sufficient for me.''
Smith's portrait replaced a picture of the late Rep. Claude Pepper, D-Fla., a liberal who fought for civil rights and on behalf of the elderly.
As head of the Rules Committee, which serves as a gatekeeper for legislation moving to the House floor, Smith, a Democrat, fought vehemently against civil rights bills. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
A protest from the Black Caucus made Virginia Rep. Howard Smith's
resurrection a brief one.
by CNB