The US Senate has passed a bill to rename US military bases named after officers of the Confederate Army defeated in the Civil War. If signed into law, the legislation would affect some 10 US Army installations located in the American South, most of which were given their current designations between the end of World War I and the 1940s.

The Senate bill adopted Thursday, S. 4049, mainly authorizes appropriation for Department of Defense funding in 2021 but also contains an additional amendment to rename the bases. The amendment states that the Department of Defense will “remove all names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the ‘Confederacy’) or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America from all assets of the Department of Defense.” The section authorizes the creation of a six-person commission that will oversee the renaming and associated activities.

The commission must:

(1) assess the cost of renaming or removing names, symbols, displays, monuments, or paraphernalia that commemorate the Confederate States of America or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America;

(2) develop procedures and criteria to assess whether an existing name, symbol, monument, display, or paraphernalia commemorates the Confederate States of America or person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America;

(3) recommend procedures for renaming assets of the Department of Defense to prevent commemoration of the Confederate States of America or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America;

(4) develop a plan to remove names, symbols, displays, monuments, or paraphernalia that commemorate the Confederate States of America or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America from assets of the Department of Defense, within the timeline established by this Act; and

(5) include in the plan procedures and criteria for collecting and incorporating local sensitivities associated with naming or renaming of assets of the Department of Defense.

The commission must complete its duties within three years of the enactment of the bill.

President Trump has vowed not to sign any bill that includes a requirement to rename the bases.