Committee bars funds to reverse 2020 DOD base‑renaming commission work

Representative Strickland offered an amendment to prevent Department of Defense funds from being used to contravene or reverse the work of the naming commission created in the FY2021 NDAA that recommended renaming installations that commemorate the Confederacy.

Strickland said the commission conducted community engagement and followed a process that rejected using similarly named service members as a substitute for Confederate honorees. “This commission specifically rejected proposals to rename bases after service members who shared the same names as the Confederate traders,” she said, and argued that the administration’s reversion of some names had been done without community input.

Supporters framed the amendment as protecting a bipartisan process that engaged communities and Gold Star families; Representative Bacon and others said Congress had debated and passed the renaming process previously. Opponents, including Representative McGuire, said the administration was restoring names to honor American history and argued that the commission’s recommendations were controversial locally; McGuire said he opposed the amendment.

The committee held a recorded vote and the transcript shows the amendment passed with 29 ayes and 28 nays. Supporters described the amendment as preserving the commission’s work and preventing further departmental expenditure reversing those recommendations.

Why it matters: the amendment seeks to ensure that implementation of a congressionally directed naming commission is not undone with DOD funds and that community engagement remains the basis for future naming decisions.

Details: the commission was created in the FY2021 NDAA; proponents said it visited bases, solicited community input, and recommended replacement names recognized by the commission. The amendment prohibits DOD funds from being used to contravene or reverse the commission’s work.