Honoring Real Patriots Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7164 To require the Secretary of Defense to change the name of any military installation or other property under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense that is currently named after any individual who took up arms against the United States during the American Civil War or any individual or entity that supported such efforts, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 11, 2020 Ms. CLARKE of New York (for herself, Mr. ROSE of New York, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. OMAR, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. NADLER, Ms. MENG, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. POCAN, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, and Mr. KIM) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To require the Secretary of Defense to change the name of any military installation or other property under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense that is cur- rently named after any individual who took up arms against the United States during the American Civil War or any individual or entity that supported such efforts, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H7164.IH H7164 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7164 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring Real Patri- 4 ots Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) The American Civil War of 1861–1865 was 8 fought over the desire of the seceding States to keep 9 human beings enslaved based upon their race. 10 (2) The Confederacy was so committed to pre- 11 serving the institution of slavery that it killed more 12 than 360,000 American soldiers in its failed effort to 13 achieve this goal. 14 (3) This act of treason was a direct attack on 15 the existence of the United States and merits no 16 honor to the Confederacy as an institution or its 17 leaders as individuals by the United States Armed 18 Forces. 19 (4) Nonetheless, United States military installa- 20 tions and other property under the jurisdiction of 21 the Department of Defense, including General Lee 22 Avenue and Stonewall Jackson Drive at Fort Ham- 23 ilton, New York, remain named after rebels who 24 took up arms against the United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7164.IH H7164 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7164 IH (5) The United States Armed Forces are essen- 1 tial to defending the United States and protecting 2 American values of freedom, equality, and demo- 3 cratic governance. 4 (6) This role is undermined when military in- 5 stallations, facilities, roads, equipment, and other 6 property are named after enemy combatants who 7 took up arms during the Civil War to challenge the 8 very values for which the United States stands. 9 (7) Naming military property after armed in- 10 surrectionists with American blood on their hands is 11 an affront to members of the Armed Forces, many 12 of whom are people of color, who take an oath to 13 protect and defend the Constitution. 14 (8) There are an ample number of meritorious 15 members of the Armed Forces, who loyally served 16 the United States, for whom military property could 17 and should be named. 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7164.IH H7164 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7164 IH SEC. 3. REDESIGNATION OF MILITARY INSTALLATIONS AND 1 OTHER PROPERTY UNDER THE JURISDIC- 2 TION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 3 NAMED AFTER INDIVIDUALS WHO TOOK UP 4 ARMS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES DURING 5 THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. 6 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 7 United States that no military installation or other prop- 8 erty under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense 9 shall be named, or may remain named, after any indi- 10 vidual who took up arms against the United States during 11 the American Civil War or any individual or entity that 12 supported such efforts. 13 (b) REDESIGNATION OF PROPERTY.—Not later than 14 one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 15 Secretary of Defense shall change the name of any mili- 16 tary installation or other property under the jurisdiction 17 of the Department of Defense that, as of the date of the 18 enactment of this Act, is named after— 19 (1) any individual who took up arms against 20 the United States during the American Civil War; or 21 (2) any individual or entity that supported the 22 effort to take up arms against the United States 23 during such war. 24 (c) IMPLEMENTATION REPORT.—Not later than 30 25 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7164.IH H7164 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7164 IH of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Serv- 1 ices of the House of Representatives and the Senate a re- 2 port containing a plan to comply with this section by the 3 deadline specified in subsection (b). The report shall in- 4 clude the following: 5 (1) A comprehensive list of all military installa- 6 tions and other property under the jurisdiction of 7 the Department of Defense with a name that needs 8 to be changed to comply with this section. 9 (2) An estimate of the funding necessary to im- 10 plement this section, including costs associated with 11 new signage, maps, documents, and other materials 12 to reflect changes in names. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7164.IH H7164 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS