Senate Democrats move to speed up timeline of removing Confederate military base names

A group of 36 Senate Democrats on Wednesday introduced legislation to speed up the timeline to remove Confederate names from military bases and Pentagon assets.

A Republican-majority Senate panel nearly two weeks ago approved a provision to the massive defense policy bill that would require the Pentagon to change the name of military bases and other assets named after Confederate Civil War figures within three years.

But a group of Democrats, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, is pushing for the change to take place within just one year.

The argument has become a hot-button issue in the wake of nationwide protests against racism and police brutality, but President Trump has sharply criticized the name-change push, arguing the forts have served as key training grounds for patriotic American soldiers who went on to fight in World War II and other conflicts.

The initial amendment, approved earlier this month by the Senate Armed Services Committee, would create an eight-person commission that will “study and provide recommendations concerning the removal, names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederate States of America,” and make changes within three years.

Ms. Warren’s amendment would require the Defense secretary to remove all names, symbols, displays, monuments and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederacy from all Pentagon assets within one year, and prohibit the future display of any name, symbol, display, monument or paraphernalia that honors or commemorates the Confederate States of America.

“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,” Ms. Warren in a statement. “SASC has already passed a version of my proposal in the annual defense bill — and Senate Republicans should make sure that bipartisan compromise stays intact.”