The state representative whose bill to separate Arkansas' observances of Martin Luther King Day and Robert E. Lee's birthday vowed Monday to bring his bill back for another vote after it fell in committee last week.
Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, spoke Monday to the Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus, saying his bill will come up again — though it's not yet known when — and asking the body to help stir support.
"I'm asking you to help me get this in front of people," Bell told the panel, adding that he wanted to ensure the next vote won't be a "room with 50 people signed up against the bill and no one for it."
Bell's bill, House Bill 1113, fell on a voice vote when it came up for the first time Wednesday before the State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee. A number of opponents spoke out against the bill during that meeting.
HB1113 would remove the Lee observance from the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on the third Monday of January. It would also repeal Arkansas' observance of Jefferson Davis' birthday and create a Patrick Cleburne-Robert E. Lee Southern Heritage Day. Cleburne is a Confederate general who lived in Helena-West Helena.
Bell said he believes the combined Lee-King holiday "is being used to enhance racial division," noting his effort hasn't been "politically expedient" for him and there's even a Facebook group seeking to recall him as state representative.
But, he said, he is "all in" on the cause, even as someone who has "high respect for Robert E. Lee."
"In fact, I'm confident if Gen. Lee were here with us today, he'd say this is being used to create division, we need to stop it," Bell said.
Speaking after the meeting, Bell pointed to the part of his bill that gets rid of the state's Jefferson Davis observance, calling it a "key piece that hasn't been discussed and frankly needs to be."
"My bill gets rid of that," he said. "I think that is a very clear step in saying we are no longer going to revere a guy who openly fought for slavery. Lee clearly didn't. Cleburne clearly didn't."
Bell said he did not anticipate any amendments to the bill's current version, which he said will likely need to be considered again "fairly quickly."
He said he plans to cosponsor a similar bill sponsored by Rep. Fred Love, D-Little Rock, if his isn't successful.