Progressive Senators (Unintentionally) Defend Southern Heritage
Chris Roberts, American Renaissance, July 24, 2020
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).