Senate Democrats are now pushing for expedited timelines to rename U.S. Military bases honoring Confederate leaders.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a statement on Wednesday detailing the push to move forward with putting a stop “honoring” the Confederacy “immediately.”
Describing the Confederacy as an “ugly legacy,” Warren’s standalone bill calls, coined “The Removing Confederate Names and Symbols from Our Military Act,” aims for lawmakers to move forward with renaming of military bases “within one year.”
“Senate Democrats are putting forward legislation to change the names of our bases and other military assets within one year because we need to stop honoring this ugly legacy immediately,” Warren said in a statement Wednesday.
Warren’s latest initiative sets a definitive deadline ahead of the upcoming Senate floor debate regarding the annual defense policy bill.
Earlier this month, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with an amendment that requires the Pentagon to move forward with renaming “bases and other assets” commemorating the Confederacy within three years.
While Warren noted that the SASC has approved a renaming proposal, there are concerns about the amendment.
The Democratic senator’s bill is already co-sponsored by 35 of her colleagues but Republican lawmakers remain divided on the issue.
In fact, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has made an attempt to block Warren’s effort. On Wednesday morning, Hawley released a statement firing back at Warren insisting the latest move was done “behind closed doors.”
“This latest effort to unilaterally rename bases and remove war memorials, all behind closed doors, smacks of the cancel culture the Left wants to impose on the nation,” Hawley said in a statement.
My amendment would require public hearings and consultation w/ vets and military families before bases are renamed. Military bases and soldier memorials should not be used as pawns for political gain
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) June 24, 2020
According to the Republican lawmaker, “Any discussion about renaming bases should be had in the light of day, out in the open, and it should involve military families, veterans, and state and local stakeholders. That’s what my amendment would do.”
The debate about the removal of Confederate assets comes amid nationwide protests and calls for police reform, racial equality, and an end to systemic racism.
