Vote to ban Confederate flag on all Pentagon property to help ‘heal racial divisions’
THE US House Armed Services Committee has voted to approve an amendment to ban the public display of the Confederate battle flag on all Pentagon property.
The move aims to heal decades of racial divisions in the US as many view the flag as a symbol of white supremacy and racism.
On Wednesday, lawmakers approved the measure as part of the Committee’s debate over the annual defense authorization bill.
The amendment, introduced by Iraq War veteran Representative Anthony Brown, would ban the public display of the flag, including on bumper stickers and clothing, at all Defense Department property.
Exemptions are made for museums, state-approved license plates, and gravesites of Confederate soldiers.
“Recent, tragic events have underscored how much farther we have to go to heal the racial divisions that have plagued this country since our founding,” Brown said in a statement
“Prohibiting the display of the Confederate flag – a symbol that for so many represents white supremacy, oppression and terror – on Department of Defense installations is an important step in that reckoning…the display of the Confederate flag and related racist symbols have no place in our military.”
What’s more, the House panel is expected to consider an amendment that would require the Pentagon to remove Confederate names from bases and other property within a year.
President Trump objected to the move and vowed to veto it if the Army includes such measure.
The President tweeted: “I will Veto the Defense Authorization Bill if the Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren (of all people!) Amendment, which will lead to the renaming (plus other bad things!) of Fort Bragg, Fort Robert E. Lee, and many other Military Bases from which we won Two World Wars, is in the Bill!”
Just hours ago, MississippiGovernor Tate Reeves has signed a bill into law to retire America’s last state flag to feature the Confederate emblem
On Tuesday, Tate Reeves signed the bill following a fast referendum from the state’s Legislature, which passed the motion on Sunday.
The bill was the result of weeks of protests across the nation following the death of Black man George Floyd, who died in police custody.
A commission will develop a new flag design without the Confederate emblem that includes the phrase “In God, We Trust”, and Mississippi voters will vote on the new design in November.
“This is not a political moment to me, but a solemn occasion to lead our Mississippi family to come together to be reconciled and to move on,” Reeves said before he signed the legislation.
Last month, the Marine Corps and Navy have issued detailed directives about banning the Confederate battle flag from all installations, ships, and aircraft.
General of the Marine Corps David Berger said in a statement that the ban on the flag is an effort to limit “offensive or divisive displays” in the military.
“It is time to act to exclude from our Corps public displays of the battle flag carried by the Confederate Army during the American Civil War,” said David Berger, general of the US Marine Corps, in a statement released on Thursday.
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The Navy’s top admiral followed the Marine Corps’s ban a week after.
“The Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Gilday, has directed his staff to begin crafting an order that would prohibit the Confederate battle flag from all public spaces and work areas aboard Navy installations, ships, aircraft and submarines,” spokesman Commander Nate Christensen said in a statement obtained by CBS.
“The order is meant to ensure unit cohesion, preserve good order and discipline, and uphold the Navy’s core values of honor, courage and commitment.”
People have been ripping down statues of Confederate soldiers and calling for flags to be taken down across the United States while protesting racial injustice.