While Senate Republicans were playing racist politics Wednesday, Senate Democrats were pushing progress. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat from Massachusetts, got a provision included in the defense authorization bill to expunge Confederate names from military bases. Now she and 35 colleagues are introducing legislation to require the removal of Confederate names, symbols, monuments, and anything else from all Defense Department properties and assets within one year. The only exception is for grave markers.
The provision included in the defense authorization bill gives the Defense Department three years to expunge the traitors' names, so this bill speeds up that timeline. "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 Wednesday. She pointed out that the Armed Services Committee "has already passed a version of my proposal in the annual defense bill — and Senate Republicans should make sure that bipartisan compromise stays intact." That proposal was passed in a voice vote, with no opposition. But one southern Republican is going to resist the bill coming to the floor.
Sen. Josh Hawley from Missouri is going to offer an amendment to the defense authorization bill (NDAA) when it comes to the floor to remove the provision the committee agreed upon. "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 whined, showing his snowflake treasonous self.
"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," he added. Warren's provision creates a commission that would basically do all that.
Her standalone legislation is unlikely to get past the blatantly racist Sen. Mitch McConnell to get to the floor, but her NDAA provision is almost certainly going to remain as is in the bill, and there's not a great deal of appetite on the part of Republicans to have a debate in which they have to defend Confederate traitors. "I know Sen. [James] Inhofe [R-Okla.] has expressed an interest in having, you know, maybe looking at giving cities and communities and states input," Sen. John Thune, McConnell's No. 2 in leadership, said. "But by and large, you know, it came out of the committee, it's in the base bill, it'll probably take 60 votes to get it out."
This should happen sooner. As Warren said in pushing legislation to get it done in a year instead of three, "we need to stop honoring this ugly legacy immediately." But it will happen in the next three years, because while Trump wants to keep honoring Confederate traitors, he's not likely to veto a defense bill. So at least there's that.