Congresswoman Betty McCollum Statement on Renaming of Fort Liberty

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum renaming Fort Liberty in North Carolina to Fort Bragg. In response to this announcement, Congresswoman Betty McCollum (MN-04), Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, released the following statement: 

“Secretary Hegseth’s decision to rename Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg will cost the taxpayers millions of dollars. At least Secretary Hegseth realized that the Fort’s original namesake, Braxton Bragg, was a general in the Confederacy who was despised by those serving under his command. Instead, the Secretary has named the installation for Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II paratrooper, whose service we honor. However, I believe there are other ways we could have recognized his service to our nation without putting his memory in the center of an unnecessary political battle. President Trump claims to want to root out waste in the federal government. Instead, his administration has chosen not to respect the bipartisan Commission on the Naming of Items established by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. I expect that any future decisions by Secretary Hegseth to rename installations, should he choose to do so, will similarly cost taxpayers millions of dollars that the Department of Defense does not need to spend.”