Asked if taking out the Confederate amendment would be politically problematic from a PR-standpoint, Senate Majority Whip John Thune acknowledged Thursday that it would be difficult. GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, whose home state has military installations with Confederate names, responded to questions about the amendment with, "I don't have anything for you on that." Pressed further if he's open to keeping the Confederate names, Scott said he needs to "spend time thinking about the issue first." Army bases across the country have continued to bear the names of Confederate military commanders even amid intense external pressure to rename them. The ranking Democrat on the committee, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, who was on the same conference call as Inhofe, agreed that the amendment was a "first step."

Source: CNN June 11, 2020 14:34 UTC