Republican Texas House Speaker Calls for Removal of Confederate Plaque From Capitol

Joe Straus, the Republican speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, has requested that a Confederate plaque be removed from the state Capitol, The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday. “The plaque says that the Civil War was not an act of rebellion and was not primarily about slavery. This is not accurate, and Texans are not well-served by incorrect information about our history,” Straus wrote to the State Preservation Board. The speaker's request comes after State Rep. Eric Johnson asked the board to remove the plaque last month. The Preservation Board can alter state-owned property, but the plaque in question was erected through a 1959 legislative resolution and therefore may require lawmakers vote for its removal.