US House of Representatives passes $740B bill to scrap Confederate names from military bases

The Democrat-led lower House of Representatives of the United States Congress on July 21 passed a $740 billion funding bill, with a provision requiring the names of Confederate soldiers and leaders be stripped from American military bases.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was passed with a bipartisan majority of 295 to 125. The bill is also slated to include a 3 per cent pay raise for US troops, New York Post reported.

The bill will now move on for deliberation in the Republican-controlled upper house of the Congress, the Senate, for negotiations.

Earlier yesterday, President Trump threatened to veto the bill if it requires the Defense Department to remove Confederate names from military bases.

"Section 2829 is part of a sustained effort to erase from the history of the Nation those who do not meet an ever-shifting standard of conduct," said a White House statement, chagrining a 'left-wing cultural revolution'.

The names and statues of men who owned slaves or fought with the proponents- of- slavery side during the American Civil War have been targeted in the nationwide protests which recently broke out against police brutality and racism sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man from Minneapolis.

The Senate will debate its own version of the NDAA this week.

( With inputs from ANI )