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 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. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring Real Patri5 ots Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The American Civil War of 1861–1865 was 

9 fought over the desire of the seceding States to keep 

10 human beings enslaved based upon their race. 

11 (2) The Confederacy was so committed to pre12 serving the institution of slavery that it killed more 

13 than 360,000 American soldiers in its failed effort to 

14 achieve this goal. 

15 (3) This act of treason was a direct attack on 

16 the existence of the United States and merits no 

17 honor to the Confederacy as an institution or its 

18 leaders as individuals by the United States Armed 

19 Forces. 

20 (4) Nonetheless, United States military installa21 tions and other property under the jurisdiction of 

22 the Department of Defense, including General Lee 

23 Avenue and Stonewall Jackson Drive at Fort Ham24 ilton, New York, remain named after rebels who 

25 took up arms against the United States. 


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•HR 7164 IH

1 (5) The United States Armed Forces are essen2 tial to defending the United States and protecting 

3 American values of freedom, equality, and demo4 cratic governance. 

5 (6) This role is undermined when military in6 stallations, facilities, roads, equipment, and other 

7 property are named after enemy combatants who 

8 took up arms during the Civil War to challenge the 

9 very values for which the United States stands. 

10 (7) Naming military property after armed in11 surrectionists with American blood on their hands is 

12 an affront to members of the Armed Forces, many 

13 of whom are people of color, who take an oath to 

14 protect and defend the Constitution. 

15 (8) There are an ample number of meritorious 

16 members of the Armed Forces, who loyally served 

17 the United States, for whom military property could 

18 and should be named. 


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•HR 7164 IH

1 SEC. 3. REDESIGNATION OF MILITARY INSTALLATIONS AND 

2 OTHER PROPERTY UNDER THE JURISDIC3 TION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

4 NAMED AFTER INDIVIDUALS WHO TOOK UP 

5 ARMS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES DURING 

6 THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. 

7 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

8 United States that no military installation or other prop9 erty under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense 

10 shall be named, or may remain named, after any indi11 vidual who took up arms against the United States during 

12 the American Civil War or any individual or entity that 

13 supported such efforts. 

14 (b) REDESIGNATION OF PROPERTY.—Not later than 

15 one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

16 Secretary of Defense shall change the name of any mili17 tary installation or other property under the jurisdiction 

18 of the Department of Defense that, as of the date of the 

19 enactment of this Act, is named after— 

20 (1) any individual who took up arms against 

21 the United States during the American Civil War; or 

22 (2) any individual or entity that supported the 

23 effort to take up arms against the United States 

24 during such war. 

25 (c) IMPLEMENTATION REPORT.—Not later than 30 

26 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 


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1 of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Serv2 ices of the House of Representatives and the Senate a re3 port containing a plan to comply with this section by the 

4 deadline specified in subsection (b). The report shall in5 clude the following: 

6 (1) A comprehensive list of all military installa7 tions and other property under the jurisdiction of 

8 the Department of Defense with a name that needs 

9 to be changed to comply with this section. 

10 (2) An estimate of the funding necessary to im11 plement this section, including costs associated with 

12 new signage, maps, documents, and other materials 

13 to reflect changes in names. 

Æ 


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