National Commission on Modernizing Military Installation Designations Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7155 To form the National Commission on Modernizing Military Installation Designations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 11, 2020 Mr. BROWN of Maryland (for himself and Mr. BACON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To form the National Commission on Modernizing Military Installation Designations, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘National Commission 4 on Modernizing Military Installation Designations Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON MODERNIZING MILI- 6 TARY INSTALLATION DESIGNATIONS. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 9 executive branch an independent Commission to re- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7155.IH H7155 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7155 IH view the designations of military installations and 1 other property of the Department of Defense. 2 (2) TREATMENT.—The Commission shall be 3 considered an independent Commission establish- 4 ment of the Federal Government as defined by sec- 5 tion 104 of title 5, United States Code, and a tem- 6 porary organization under section 3161 of such title. 7 (3) DESIGNATION.—The Commission estab- 8 lished under paragraph (1) shall be known as the 9 ‘‘National Commission on Modernizing Military In- 10 stallation Designations’’. 11 (4) MEMBERSHIP.— 12 (A) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall 13 be composed of 11 members appointed as fol- 14 lows: 15 (i) The Secretary of the Army shall 16 appoint 1 member. 17 (ii) The Secretary of the Air Force 18 shall appoint 1 member. 19 (iii) The Secretary of the Navy shall 20 appoint 1 member. 21 (iv) The Chairman of the Committee 22 on Armed Services of the Senate shall ap- 23 point 1 member. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7155.IH H7155 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7155 IH (v) The Ranking Member of the Com- 1 mittee on Armed Services of the Senate 2 shall appoint 1 member. 3 (vi) The Chairman of the Committee 4 on Armed Services of the House of Rep- 5 resentatives shall appoint 1 member. 6 (vii) The Ranking Member of the 7 Committee on Armed Services of the 8 House of Representatives shall appoint 1 9 member. 10 (viii) The majority leader of the Sen- 11 ate shall appoint 1 member. 12 (ix) The minority leader of the Senate 13 shall appoint 1 member. 14 (x) The Speaker of the House of Rep- 15 resentatives shall appoint 1 member. 16 (xi) The minority leader of the House 17 of Representatives shall appoint 1 member. 18 (B) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—Mem- 19 bers shall be appointed to the Commission 20 under subparagraph (A) not later than 90 days 21 after the date on which the Commission is es- 22 tablished. 23 (C) EFFECT OF LACK OF APPOINTMENT 24 BY APPOINTMENT DATE.—If one or more ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7155.IH H7155 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7155 IH pointments under subparagraph (A) are not 1 made by the appointment date specified in sub- 2 paragraph (B), or if a position described in sub- 3 paragraph (A) is vacant for more than 90 days, 4 the authority to make such appointment shall 5 transfer to the Chair of the Commission. 6 (5) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The Commission 7 shall elect a Chair and Vice Chair from among its 8 members. 9 (6) TERMS.—Members shall be appointed for 10 the life of the Commission. A vacancy in the Com- 11 mission shall not affect its powers and shall be filled 12 in the same manner as the original appointment was 13 made. 14 (7) STATUS AS FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Not- 15 withstanding the requirements of section 2105 of 16 title 5, United States Code, including the required 17 supervision under subsection (a)(3) of such section, 18 the members of the Commission shall be deemed to 19 be Federal employees. 20 (b) DUTIES.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall carry 22 out the review described in paragraph (2). In car- 23 rying out such review, the Commission shall consider 24 the designations of covered military installations and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7155.IH H7155 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7155 IH criteria for their redesignation that honors our de- 1 ceased heroes and other deceased distinguished men 2 and women that represent the diversity of our soci- 3 ety. 4 (2) SCOPE OF THE REVIEW.—In conducting the 5 review under paragraph (1), the Commission shall 6 consider the following: 7 (A) The designations of military installa- 8 tions and other Department of Defense prop- 9 erty, including if such designations represent 10 the values enshrined in the Constitution of the 11 United States. 12 (B) The characteristics on which the des- 13 ignation of a covered military installation 14 should be based, including but not limited to— 15 (i) serving as inspiration to the service 16 members and citizens of the United States; 17 (ii) honoring careers or actions that 18 were important to, and well known in, the 19 locality or function to be memorialized; 20 (iii) recognizing the contributions to 21 the service under which the installation or 22 property is operated; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:23 Jul 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7155.IH H7155 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7155 IH (iv) representing an allegiance to the 1 values enshrined in the Constitution of the 2 United States; 3 (v) diversity in race, gender, and eth- 4 nicity; and 5 (vi) honoring living persons in excep- 6 tional cases and where it is uniquely ap- 7 propriate. 8 (C) The rules, regulations, and procedures 9 for the designation of military installations and 10 other Department of Defense property. 11 (D) Any other matters the Commission 12 deems relevant. 13 (c) REPORTS.— 14 (1) INITIAL REPORT.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 16 days after the date of the enactment of this 17 Act, the Commission shall submit to the Presi- 18 dent and Congress an initial report on the find- 19 ings of the Commission and such recommenda- 20 tions that the Commission may have for action 21 by the executive branch and Congress related to 22 the covered military installations. 23 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required 24 under subparagraph (A) shall include— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7155.IH H7155 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7155 IH (i) the covered military installations 1 considered for redesignation; 2 (ii) the criteria to be used for select- 3 ing a redesignation for each covered mili- 4 tary installation, consistent with the char- 5 acteristics under subsection (b)(2)(B); and 6 (iii) any other matters the Commis- 7 sion considers appropriate. 8 (2) FINAL REPORT.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 365 10 days after the date of the enactment of this 11 Act, the Commission shall submit to the Presi- 12 dent and Congress a comprehensive report on 13 the results of the review required under sub- 14 section (b). 15 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required 16 under subparagraph (A) shall include— 17 (i) a redesignation for each covered 18 military installation; 19 (ii) the criteria used for selecting a re- 20 designation for each covered military in- 21 stallation; 22 (iii) the rationale for the selected re- 23 designation for each covered military in- 24 stallation; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:23 Jul 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7155.IH H7155 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7155 IH (iv) recommendations for improve- 1 ments to and standardization of Depart- 2 ment of Defense regulations and processes 3 related to the naming of military installa- 4 tions and property; and 5 (v) any other matters the Commission 6 considers appropriate. 7 (3) FORM OF REPORTS.—Reports submitted 8 under this subsection shall be made publicly avail- 9 able. 10 (d) REDESIGNATION.—Not later than 30 days after 11 the submission of the recommendations under subsection 12 (c)(2), the Secretary of Defense shall redesignate the cov- 13 ered military installations with such designations as deter- 14 mined by the Commission. 15 (e) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any law, regula- 16 tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United 17 States to a covered military installation referred to in sub- 18 section (d) shall be deemed to be a reference to such in- 19 stallation as redesignated under such subsection. 20 (f) TERMINATION.—Commission shall terminate not 21 later than 30 days after submitting the final versions of 22 reports and recommendations pursuant to subsection (c). 23 (g) COVERED MILITARY INSTALLATION.—In this sec- 24 tion, the term ‘‘covered military installation’’ includes— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7155.IH H7155 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7155 IH (1) Camp Beauregard, Louisiana; 1 (2) Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia; 2 (3) Fort Benning, Georgia; 3 (4) Fort Bragg, North Carolina; 4 (5) Fort Gordon, Georgia; 5 (6) Fort Hood, Texas; 6 (7) Fort Lee, Virginia; 7 (8) Fort Pickett, Virginia; 8 (9) Fort Polk, Louisiana; 9 (10) Fort Rucker, Alabama; 10 (11) the USS Chancellorsville; and 11 (12) any other military base or property as the 12 Commission determines appropriate. 13 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 14 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec- 15 essary to carry out this section. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7155.IH H7155 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS