3% troop pay raise at risk over Confederate base names dispute in 2021 defense budget

[Elderberry]

American Military News by Ryan Morgan November 23, 2020

Reports: 3% troop pay raise at risk over Confederate base names dispute in 2021 defense budget

A potential pay raise to U.S. military service members in the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2021 is at risk over a provision calling for the renaming of U.S. military installations named for Confederate military leaders.

The Associated Press reported the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are working to reconcile the differences between their respective versions of the defense bill, but that Trump opposes the measure to rename the military bases and installations and has threatened to veto the bill entirely, which includes a 3-percent pay raise for service members.

Both the Senate and House versions of the NDAA include provisions that would change the names of Confederate-named bases over a three-year period. U.S. bases bearing Confederate names include Fort Bragg, Fort Benning, Fort Lee, Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Polk, Fort Pickett, Fort Rucker and Camp Beauregard.

“It’s Senate language that we want to agree to,” said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) said. “So there shouldn’t be controversy here.”

The Associated Press reported Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK) was strongly backing Trump, but did not say whether Inhofe was backing Trump’s opposition to the base renaming issue.

More: https://americanmilitarynews.com/2020/11/reports-3-troop-pay-raise-at-risk-over-confederate-base-names-dispute-in-2021-defense-budget/