Schiff sought to pass resolution urging Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to keep John Lewis Class naval vessels named for California gay rights icon, other notable American civil rights heroes
Washington, D.C. – Today, Senate Republicans blocked passage of U.S. Senator Adam Schiff’s (D-Calif.) resolution objecting to the U.S. Department of the Navy’s announcement it would rename the United States Naval Ship Harvey Milk and other plans to rename U.S. Navy vessels for American civil rights icons.
Schiff brought his resolution, co-led by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), up for consideration today in the U.S. Senate and urged his colleagues to allow the measure to pass, but the measure was blocked by Republican leadership.
“The Navy has seen fit to honor these civil rights icons – who spent their lives fighting for the rights of the American people – by naming ships in their honor. We learned this week, however, that the Secretary of Defense does not share the view that these leaders are worthy of the honor of recognition that the Navy has bestowed upon them,” said Senator Schiff.
“I suspect it is no coincidence that the Pentagon released the news of renaming the USNS Harvey Milk at the beginning of Pride Month and while Washington D.C. hosts World Pride,” Schiff continued. “So today I offer a simple resolution with my California colleague Alex Padilla. It says that the Senate believes that it is important and worthwhile to honor civil rights leaders by naming ships after them, and it expresses the Senate’s view that the Department of Defense should not seek to remove these names.”
In addition to the USNS Harvey Milk, other ships in the John Lewis Class had been named for Californians – including California Governor and Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, labor rights advocate Cesar Chavez, and longtime civil rights leader Dolores Huerta.
The Senator’s full remarks can be found here.
The full text of the resolution can be found here.
###