More than two dozen House Democrats are demanding the reinstatement of LGBTQ Pride and Sovereign Native Nations flags on military installations — and an explicit ban on the Confederate Flag. In a letter sent Friday to Department of Defense Secretary Mark Esper, 34 lawmakers argued that a new policy he issued last month — which was intended to target the Confederate battle flag, but ultimately also... Read more »
“We ask that you immediately revise the new policy on flag display, explicitly ban the Confederate Battle Flag, and ensure that service members can express support for diversity and inclusion through the display of sovereign Native Nations and LGBTQ Pride flags.” Read more »
On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment that would overturn Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people in the military, which has been in effect since April 2019. As it stands, trans people can serve in the military but only in the sex they were assigned at birth. In order to serve in their true gender identity, they would need to get a waiver. The new measure, introduced ... Read more »
Dozens of U.S. Representatives have hatched a plan to stop the Department of Defense from banning the display of rainbow LGBTQ pride flags at military installations. A July 16 memo from Secretary of Defense Mark Esper was aimed at banning the Confederate flag from being flown at U.S. military bases but also resulted the prohibition of many other flags that had been previously allowed, including th... Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington Post published an op-ed by Brian Greer, a principal with Klein/Johnson Group and former staffer for the House Armed Services Committee and Sen. Charles E Schumer (D-N.Y.), on the lack of diversity on Congressional oversight committees for the military. Greer notes that House Armed Services Committee Vice Chair Anthony G. Brown (MD-04) is the only Black lawmaker si... Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Armed Services Committee Vice Chair, 30-year Army veteran and FY20 NDAA conferee Congressman Anthony G. Brown (MD-04) released the following statement in response to President Trump’s assertion that Senate Armed Services Chair Jim Inhofe promised provisions to redesignate military bases honoring Confederate leaders would not be included in the final FY21 National Defense A... Read more »
Last year, a provision led by Congressman Brown in the FY20 National Defense Authorization Act was passed into law which requires the Department of Defense to provide Congress an annual report on the number of transgender applicants and service members who sought and received a waiver or an exception to policy to permit their enlistment, accession, or retention. At the time of the report, no waivers were issued. Since then, a single waiver has been granted by the Navy. Read more »
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Anthony Brown (MD-04), Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee and 30-year Army veteran, released the following statement on the passage of his provisions promoting and fostering diversity within the military in the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act: “We are at an inflection point when it comes to race in this country. Our armed services are not immu... Read more »
Three bills to identify and remove Confederate monuments on federal land, including a privately funded statue of Robert E. Lee in Maryland, will get a hearing from a House Natural Resources subcommittee on Tuesday. Rep. Anthony G. Brown, D-Md., is scheduled to speak on his bill to remove the Lee statue, which sits on the Antietam National Battlefield and has been vandalized with graffiti in suppor... Read more »
“This reckoning should extend to our nation’s armed forces. Congress has both the capacity and responsibility to ensure that the military, often a leader on racial equality since President Truman desegregated it in 1948, continues to set an example for the country.” Read more »
