On Monday, State Rep. Mike Holmes (R-Wetumpka) announced he would back legislation that would strengthen the existing Alabama Memorial Preservation Act.

The controversial law, which was passed in 2017, protects “monuments, markers, and other historical remembrances from removal, relocation, and destruction.”

During an appearance on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” the Elmore County Republican lawmaker argued those monuments were worthy of protection and said those that take offense to them could “ignore them.”

“[T]here’s a reason that those monuments are there, and there’s a good reason those people at the time put them there, and the majority believe that they should be there,” Holmes said. “They paid for them, and they need to continue to be respected. You don’t have to look at them. You don’t have to go visit them. You don’t have to do any of that. You can ignore them, which the people that are opposed to having them can do that. That’s the way the idea got started.”

According to Holmes, the 2017 Alabama Memorial Preservation Act is the skeleton for the legislation.

“What we did — we broadened it and strengthened it,” he added. “For example, the fines we just talked about would be $10,000 per day until the monument is either replaced or restored. That’s a big difference. If you let a few days go by, it starts to turn into real money pretty shortly. ”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.