Miller’s three other appointments are Earl Matthews, a former acting chief of staff to the military, Ann G. Johnston, the acting assistant secretary of defense for legislative matters, and White House official Sean McLean.
The remaining four members of the eight-member panel are still to be appointed by the chairs and rankings of the committees of the Senate and the Army Services. Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) And Jack Reed (DR.I.) and representatives Adam Smith (D-Wash.) And Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) Will each appoint one panel member.
The panel is part of a mandate set out in the National Defense Authorization Act for the Pentagon to rename ten military bases that honor Confederate leaders and remove other symbols or honors to the Confederation within three years. The effort reflects an amendment passed in the Senate, introduced by progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Despite dual support in the House and Senate for the removal of racist remnants in a year of racial upheaval, Trump opposed the attempt. After months of threats, the president swept the defense bill because of, among other things, his opposition to renaming the bases, which he compared to rewriting American history. Lawmakers violate Trump’s veto.
The legislation obliges the removal of associated names, symbols, monuments and other honors from military property – including bases, buildings, streets, ships, aircraft, weapons and equipment – within three years. The bill exempts Confederate grave markers from review.
The commission is responsible for developing criteria for identifying Confederate monuments and recommending procedures for renaming the property and collecting local communities.
The panel did not explicitly have the task of devising new names for bases, although it could either point out the army secretary or secretary of defense.
A final report should appear by October 1, 2022, setting out property or renaming it, and the Pentagon will have to execute the plan by early 2024.