In an interview with Fox and Friends on Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence weighed in on the debate surrounding Confederate monuments across the country. He was asked if he supported local municipalities’ decisions to remove Confederate monuments in the wake of the violence that wreaked havoc on Charlottesville this past week. Pence stressed that he believes that decision should not be made at the federal level but stressed that he would rather see the country build more monuments rather than tear them down.

.@VP weighs in on the debate to remove Confederate statues pic.twitter.com/2LXQDxGYWK

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“It’s important that we remember our past and build on the progress we’ve made,” Pence said. “What we have to walk away from is the desire by some to erase parts of our history.” Pence harkened back to 2010 when he walked across Alabama’s Edmund Pettus Bridge in remembrance of “Bloody Sunday.” Pence believes that it is monuments and memorials such as the bridge that “tell the whole story of America.”

The Edmund Pettus Bridge became a symbol of the Civil Rights Movement when 3,200 marchers set out from Selma to Montgomery in protest of voting rights restrictions. They were violently confronted by law enforcement, resulting in a day that would live in infamy known as Bloody Sunday. By the time the marchers reached the Capitol, they were 25,000 strong. Shortly after the march, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Pence hopes that America can move past the current turmoil she finds herself in. By acknowledging our rich but tumultuous history, we can begin to build a nation centered around a mutual respect for our fellow man. As he put it, “We ought to be celebrating the men and women who have helped our nation move towards a more perfect union.”