Naval Academy could see new building names

Bill opens door to erasing those linked to Confederacy

The Naval Academy will likely need to change two building names after the Senate and House passed a massive defense spending bill, which includes a provision examining any names linked to the Confederacy.

The National Defense Authorization Act sets up a commission, with members appointed by Congress and the defense secretary, to review Department of Defense infrastructure to identify any names that might be connected to the Confederacy.

The commission, within three years, will also identify how much it costs and lay out the process to rename the buildings. Any names identified as linked to the Confederacy must be removed within three years.

At the Naval Academy, there are two buildings that will be reviewed by the commission: Maury Hall — named after Confederate sailor Matthew Fontaine Maury— and Buchanan House — named after the academy’s first superintendent, Franklin Buchanan, who joined the Confederacy.

The NDAA provision comes after a summer of calls for forts with Confederate-linked names to be renamed. President Donald Trump spoke against renaming the forts, which, in part, led to the congressional move to add the provision to the act.

The NDAA passed both chambers of Congress with a wide enough margin to be considered veto-proof. However, the act is facing a veto threat from Trump, who wants to veto it due to language included granting social media companies immunity for content posted on their sites.

He has also threatened to veto the act over the inclusion of the commission to rename Confederate-linked buildings, the Wall Street Journal reported.

It is unclear if the president will veto the bill, and if he does, if the chambers of Congress will override it.

“It’s my hope, and I think there is a good possibility that he won’t because I think, hopefully, calmer heads will prevail in the White House and convince the president that there’s much more at stake than the two things that he’s been now focused on,” Rep. Anthony Brown said.

Other measures

The act will also help provide funding to the family of Lt. Richard Collins, an ROTC student at Bowie State University whowas killed by a University of Maryland student.

The NDAA Conference Report had a provision that will grant death benefits to Collins’ family.

Also in the act is a 3% pay raise for service members, Sen. Ben Cardin said.

“In these times, 3%, I think, is gonna be welcomed by the families,” Cardin said.

There is also $35 million in the act for mold remediation in privatized military housing, Sen. Chris Van Hollen said. It is likely that some of this funding will go to Fort George G. Meade, which has had issues with mold in its homes run by Corvias.

Fort Meade will receive $250 million for a Naval Support Activity Washington building, according to the act.

The bill also gives $39.5 million for a Reserve Training Camp for Camp Fretterd in Reisterstown. And $9.4 million will go toward an F-16 Training Center at Joint Base Andrews. The base in Prince George’s County will also get $13 million for a consolidated communication center, Christian Unkenholz, Brown’s press secretary, wrote in an email.

The Energy Resilience and Conservation Investment Program at the Naval Support Activity South Potomac will also receive $18.5 million, he said.

The Bethesda Naval Hospital will also receive $50 million, according to the act.