Posted on July 24, 2020

Progressive Senators (Unintentionally) Defend Southern Heritage

Chris Roberts, American Renaissance, July 24, 2020

Confederate Battle Flag

Yesterday, Politico reported:

The Senate overwhelmingly passed its $741 billion defense policy legislation on Thursday, with the Republican-led body defying a threat from President Donald Trump to veto legislation that would force the removal of Confederate names from Army bases.

Senators approved the National Defense Authorization Act in a 86-14 blowout. Both the House and Senate have passed bills this week with majorities large enough to overcome a veto from Trump.

GOP capitulation in the war on white heritage is not new, but I wanted to know which 14 Republicans had enough backbone to stand up for the South. It took me some time to find the names, because every time I found a list, I thought I was looking at the wrong roll call:

But this list of nays is correct. The bill was mostly about military spending — removing Confederate names from bases was an add-on. Some details from the same Politico article:

In all, the legislation would authorize $740.5 billion in national defense funding for fiscal 2021. . . .  An extra $25.9 billion is authorized for national security and nuclear weapons programs under the Energy Department.

The Senate Armed Services Committee set aside $1.4 billion for the coming fiscal year for a new Pacific Deterrence Initiative, a priority for both parties aimed at beefing up the U.S. military posture in the region and deterring China’s aims there.

Senators allocated $9.1 billion in the bill to buy 91 Lockheed Martin-built F-35 fighters, 14 more than requested by the Pentagon.

The legislation authorizes $21.3 billion for the Navy to build seven warships, an increase of $1.4 billion from the administration’s request. [emphasis mine]

So it is not surprising that the most left-wing members of the Senate Democrats and Rand Paul, the chamber’s lone libertarian, voted against it. Nor is it surprising that so many Republicans, ever loyal to the military-industrial complex and aggressive foreign policy, voted for it even at the cost of giving the Left a cultural victory.

Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who pushed for the bill to include the anti-Southern clause, ended up voting against it because it was too militaristic. Meanwhile, Josh Hawley (R-MO), who spoke against the anti-Southern clause, voted for the bill because it was just militaristic enough.

These senators voted against a bill that requires removal of Condederate names:

  • Three Republicans: John Kennedy (LA), Mike Braun (IN), and Mike Lee (UT)
  • One libertarian: Rand Paul (KY)
  • Ten leftists: Cory Booker (NJ), Sherrod Brown (OH), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Kamala Harris (CA), Patrick Leahy (VT), Ed Markey (MA), Jeff Merkley (OR), Bernie Sanders (VT), Elizabeth Warren (MA), Ron Wyden (OR).

That's All Folks