Rep. Scott Peters on Friday introduced a bill to prevent the U.S. Navy from renaming the USNS Harvey Milk and other ships honoring “great Americans” and civil rights leaders, according to a press release.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered Navy Secretary John Phelan to rename the USNS Harvey Milk earlier this month, sparking heavy backlash from Democrats and local leaders in San Diego, where the John-Lewis class oiler was built in the General Dynamics/NASCCO shipyard.
The ship is named after Milk, the late political leader and gay rights activist who served as a sailor during the Korean War before being discharged due to his sexual orientation.
Other ships, all built in San Diego, that the Navy may rename include those honoring prominent civil rights figures such as Cesar Chavez and Harriet Tubman, Peters’ office said.
In response to Hegseth’s order, the San Diego Democrat’s “Preserving Great Americans’ Legacies Act” would prohibit the Navy from changing the name of any vessel that honors the following individuals – Milk, Chavez, Tubman, Medgar Evers, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Dolores Huerta, Thurgood Marshall and Lucy Stone.
“Secretary Hegseth claims that this hateful move would return a ‘warrior ethos’ to the force, but renaming these ships won’t help better train or equip a single servicemember,” Peters said. “Every sailor deserves to serve on and fight from a ship named after an American who embodies those values we wish to see in our military.”
The bill is co-sponsored by two other California Democratic representatives, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Mark Takano, as well as 10 other Democrats.
The bill is also supported by several civil rights groups, including Equality California and Silver State Equality.
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