WASHINGTON: The Democratic-led US House of Representatives has passed a legislation that will remove statues in the Capitol Hill that pay tribute to historical figures with legacies of defending slavery, including those who served the Confederacy. A total of 67 Republicans joined the Democrats in support, while 120 voted against the legislation on Tuesday, reports by Xinhua

"We ought not to forget history. We must learn from history. But we ought not to honour that which defiled the principles for which we think we stand," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, the bill's leading sponsor."It's time to remove those symbols of slavery, segregation and sedition from these halls," Hoyer said.

The legislation would order the removal of more than half a dozen Confederate statues currently on display in the Capitol as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection.Under the current rules for the collection, a statue can be removed only after gaining approval from the state government that contributed it.

The statues to be removed include figures such as Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy; Alexander Hamilton Stephens, the Confederacy's vice president; and Wade Hampton, a South Carolina plantation owner who served as a Confederate general during the Civil War.

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