1/5/21
Lawmakers' rebuke of President Donald Trump's efforts to tank annual defense policy legislation last week has paved the way for a years long process to remove the names of Confederate leaders from military bases and scrub other monuments to the secession. But there are still unanswered questions about the nascent process, which must kick off by March, including who will ultimately pick the new names of bases, who will serve on the panel and whether President-elect Joe Biden could preempt some of the panel's work with a speedier executive action of his own after Inauguration Day. The National Defense Authorization Act mandates the removal of Confederate names from Defense Department-owned property within three years and tasks an eight-member commission with developing a plan to carry it out. The provision became law last week after lawmakers overrode Trump's veto of the defense bill, H.R. 6395 (116). Public scrutiny has centered on the 10 Army bases that are named for Confederate leaders — including major installations such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Benning in Georgia — but the review will assess myriad other military property that honor the Confederacy, including a pair of Navy ships, buildings and other memorials.
Proponents saw removing the racist relics as a must-have in a year marked by racial unrest in the U.S. Trump, however, opposed renaming bases, equating removing Confederate leaders' names with rewriting history. The legislation mandates the removal of Confederate names, symbols, monuments and other honors from Defense Department property — including bases, buildings, streets, ships, aircraft, weapons and equipment — within three years and tasks the eight-member panel with carrying it out. The bill exempts Confederate grave markers from the review. The bill does not explicitly task the commission with coming up with new names for bases, buildings or other property that's selected for renaming, though a Senate aide said the panel has the latitude to do so. The aide added that if the panel doesn't wade into the issue, the Army secretary or defense secretary have the authority to kick off a process to come up with new names. The panel is required to brief the House and Senate Armed Services Committees on its progress by Oct. 1. The eight members of the panel must be appointed by the Pentagon and congressional leaders within 45 days of the defense bill's enactment. The panel must then hold its first meeting within two months of the bill becoming law.
