From left, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) place a wreath at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala., on March 3, 2012, as Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), right, looks on. On Friday, McCarthy huddled with Lewis after a dispute over the Confederate flag broke out at the Capitol. (Dave Martin/AP)

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the leading civil rights icon in Congress, said Friday that he can move beyond this week's "unfortunate screw-up" that led to a near vote on the Confederate flag, but he urged leadership to conduct a serious review of all Confederate symbols and statues in the U.S. Capitol.

Exiting a closed-door huddle with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Lewis said that the near vote Thursday on an amendment to allow brief displays of the Confederate flag in national cemeteries was a "mistake" that could be overcome if House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) convenes a legitimate review of the issue.

“I think it would be fitting and appropriate that at some level, that the leadership should take a look at the symbols, statues and others in the Capitol," Lewis told reporters Friday.

Lewis's comments came as House GOP leaders slowed consideration of the bills funding the federal agencies, fearful that Democrats would continue offering amendments related to the Confederate flag and statues on federal grounds or in federal buildings.

This week's final votes on the bill to fund the Interior Department ended with no action once Boehner and McCarthy realized that they lacked the votes to pass the bill with strict language forbidding any display of the controversial flag in federally run veterans cemeteries -- Democrats already unanimously opposed the legislation for its cuts to environmental programs, and a large enough bloc of Southern conservatives opposed the legislation because of the flag issue.

Democrats acknowledged Friday that similarly themed amendments could be coming on other spending bills. "I wouldn't be completely surprised," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who offered one of the initial flag-related amendments that caused this week's debate, said Friday.

In this environment Republicans are putting off the planned consideration next week of the funding bill for the Treasury Department and other financial agencies. "We’re discussing how best to move the appropriations process forward," Mike Long, McCarthy's spokesman, said in a statement.

That's where Lewis becomes such a crucial player in this dispute. A civil rights activist whose actions were captured in the movie "Selma", Lewis has more credibility on racially tinged issues than any lawmaker. He declined to discuss the nature of his conversation with McCarthy, who has known Lewis since he joined him in 2012 at the annual march across the notorious Alabama bridge.

But Lewis said Friday that the mistake in advancing an amendment that would have overturned Huffman's original measure that forbid Confederate flags fell mostly at the feet of the Southern conservatives who balked, not with Boehner and McCarthy.

"I think it was just an unfortunate screw-up," he said.

In pulling the legislation from the floor Thursday, Boehner told reporters that he wanted to convene an informal working group of lawmakers that would review issues related to Confederate symbols, suggesting that he would make a formal announcement in the coming days.

The proposal remains very undefined at the moment. Some Democrats balked at the idea because they just think the issue is so clear that the flag and Confederate statues are offensive and need to be banished from the public. "Let's get on with this," Huffman said.

Some Republicans objected because they do not want to see leading Southern figures of history pulled out of their prominent perches in the Capitol.

Lewis gave some tacit support to the concept. “Well, we must do something. We must lead. And, if not, we would be left behind," he said.

His vision of that review would involve a very comprehensive look at statues in the Capitol and displays of the Confederate flag in many federal settings. “We need to look at all of the signs and symbols and scars of division and separation, and try to do something about it," he said.