House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, issued the following statement:

“The Speaker’s statement reaffirming her commitment to telling the whole history of the Commonwealth is perplexing, given the fact that that the Lee statute in the old House chamber literally marks the spot where Lee accepted his general’s commission, setting off some of the most historic and tragic events in our nation’s history. Unlike the Lee monument on Monument Avenue, this statue is a historical marker. Another historical reality is that the Capitol building itself served as the Confederate Capitol, a fact that should no doubt force the Speaker’s new Advisory Group to recommend that it be razed to the ground.”