Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02), Ranking Member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, released the following statement after the Washington Post reported that the United States Coast Guard plans to stop classifying the swastika, nooses, Confederate flags and other harmful iconography as a hate symbol:

“Lynching is a federal hate crime. The world defeated the Nazis in 1945. The debate on these symbols is over. They symbolize hate,” Rep. Larsen said. “Coast Guard: be better.”

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