Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee debated next year's Defense Department spending bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act. This is one of the twelve bills necessary to keep the government running. If it doesn't pass, then the Pentagon shuts down.
We always keep an eye on this legislation because it is considered "must-pass." Neither political party is willing to block the bill because it would mean every military family would miss a paycheck. Democrats always use these bills to try to sneak their radical agenda into law. This time is no different.
As we have reported, Democrats have attached a radical amendment to the NDAA that they say is designed to "rename military bases" named after Confederate soldiers. That is what the Left claims their amendment does.
Except, when we finally got a chance to read the language of the amendment, it was clear that it was much, much worse...
Section 377 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 would require that the government "remove all names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Confederacy’’) or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America from all assets of the Department of Defense."
Surprise! Democrats lied! It is not just about renaming military bases.
What is shocking, though, is that Republicans also supported this language. They saw what it said during their committee markup sessions and decided to vote for it anyway... A lot of people responded the last time we covered this and asked, "what's the big deal."
If passed as-is, this amendment would require that the federal government desecrate the graves of 482 Confederate soldiers buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The soldiers are buried in a circle around a massive, 106-year-old monument commemorating the Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. Every President since Teddy Roosevelt has laid a wreath at this monument. Yes, that includes Barack H. Obama. He paid his respects to the Confederate dead buried in Arlington back in 2009.
Warren's amendment would require that the memorial be removed from the grounds of Arlington. It is impossible to do this without disturbing the grave sites around the monument...
But it actually gets worse. Elizabeth Warren's amendment is so poorly written that while it gives an exception for gravestones, it does not exempt the graves themselves. Since being buried in Arlington is considered an honor, a literal reading of Warren's bill would require these Civil War soldiers to be exhumed and moved off the premises. Just think about how small of a person someone would have to be to write an amendment in 2020 that could force the exhumation of 482 Civil War soldiers because they disagree with the cause they fought for...
Even in a best case scenario, the graves would get to stay, but Arlington wouldn't be able to advertise where they're located. No signage... no mention in the maps... no helpful directions from staff... Anyone who has ever been to Arlington looking for a specific grave knows it is next to impossible to do without help and directions. So best case, the Confederates get to stay buried, but no one would be allowed to know where they are...
The GOP is so spineless, they actually believe that posthumously punishing Civil War dead is a reasonable "compromise."
Where does it end? There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of Confederate soldiers buried on federal land. Many of these men were either buried where they fell or in mass graves at or near historic battlefields like Gettysburg and Antietam.
There are Democrats who want to take Elizabeth Warren's amendment (narrowly tailored to the Defense Department, which runs Arlington) and apply it to all federal land. Their idea of "justice" is to exhume thousands of civil war soldiers and punish them by moving the bodies elsewhere...
And the Left already has the votes to get started on this. The GOP sees this as a "compromise" and has agreed to include Warren's amendment to punish civil war dead. President Donald Trump has promised to veto the bill if the anti-Confederate grave site amendment survives, but Mitch McConnell last week ordered the President to stand down. McConnell warned Trump that if he vetoed the bill, the GOP would help Democrats override the veto.
Republicans are spineless. They truly think that if they give in on this, the Leftists trying to erase our history will stop there and give up. They are wrong.
Three years ago, this started as a debate over whether cities should have statues honoring Confederate officers like Stonewall Jackson or Robert E. Lee. Today, it has transformed into a debate over whether civil war grave sites should be exhumed so that the dead can be posthumously punished. This is how radical the other side is.
Which is why it is so important to kill this amendment, right here and right now! You CANNOT allow the GOP to cave on this!
Stop them now!
Max McGuire
Advocacy Director
Conservative Daily
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