1999 Assembly Resolution 26
ENGROSSED RESOLUTION
Relating to: requesting that the state of South Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia immediately stop flying the confederate flag in an official capacity.
Whereas, many Wisconsinites died in Civil War battles fighting to stop slavery and the secession of South Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia and the other southern states; and
Whereas, 91,379 Wisconsin men and women served in the Civil War between 1861 and 1865; and
Whereas, 50% of the Wisconsin adult male population served in the Civil War; and
Whereas, Wisconsin sent 71 regiments to the Civil War, including 52 infantry, 4 cavalry, 13 light artillery and 2 heavy artillery units; and
Whereas, more than 12,000 Wisconsin soldiers died in the Civil War, more than those who died in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam combined; and
Whereas, the confederate flag has flown over the South Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia statehouse since 1962; and
Whereas, the confederate flag was raised over the statehouse in 1962 to commemorate the Civil War's centennial; and
Whereas, at the urging of its South Carolina chapter, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People voted in July to boycott the state for flying the confederate battle flag atop its capitol dome, something no other state does; and
Whereas, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference canceled a 2,500-member convention 4 days before it was to start in Charleston; and the African Methodist Episcopal Churches, the National Council of Negro Women and the National Urban League are also endorsing the boycott; and
Whereas, in Columbia, South Carolina, the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees has approved a resolution calling for the removal of the confederate flag from the statehouse dome; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the assembly, That the members of the Wisconsin assembly request that the state of South Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia immediately stop flying the confederate flag in an official capacity but rather place it in a museum; and, be it further
Resolved, That the assembly chief clerk shall provide a copy of this resolution to Governor James H. Hodges of the state of South Carolina, to the president pro tem and secretary of the senate of South Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia and to the speaker and clerk of the house of representatives of South Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia attesting the adoption of this resolution by the 1999 assembly of the state of Wisconsin.
