Congressman Mike Turner announced that the Department of Defense has officially implemented a new prohibition on the naming of Department of Defense (DoD) property after a sitting Member of Congress. Turner included the language in the FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to prevent conflicts of interest between Members and projects funded by taxpayers. Turner had written to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta requesting an update on how the Department is implementing in April of this year.
“I am glad to hear that the Defense Department has finally implemented this policy. Taxpayer’s dollars should not be going towards monuments for currently serving elected officials,” said Turner.
In a letter to Turner, Under Secretary of Defense Frank Kednall stated that policy officially went into effect on June 17, 2012. The language (Sec. 2863) as passed by the FY 2012 NDAA applies to structures, buildings, or other infrastructure of a military installation, roadways and defense access roads, and any other area on the grounds of a military installation.
“Naming infrastructure after sitting Members is a clear conflict. These are taxpayer’s dollars and it gives the wrong impression if the buildings or operations are affiliated with an elected official who’s currently still in office. It gives the appearance that the Member has funded the infrastructure rather than the taxpayer,” added Turner.
Note: Letters from the DoD indicating that the policy has gone into effect can be found in the related documents section of this page.