{"id":115841,"date":"2021-02-02T15:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T20:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=115841"},"modified":"2021-02-02T15:12:03","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T20:12:03","slug":"hispanic-caucus-takes-aim-at-african-american-veterans-service-on-key-panel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hispanic-caucus-takes-aim-at-african-american-veterans-service-on-key-panel\/","title":{"rendered":"Hispanic Caucus Takes Aim at African-American Veteran\u2019s Service on Key Panel"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhispanic-caucus-takes-aim-at-african-american-veterans-service-on-key-panel%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=115841&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/EarlMatthews2_736x535-1.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"465\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A group of Hispanic lawmakers is calling on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to remove four Trump administration appointees from a panel tasked with renaming military bases that honor Confederate leaders\u2014including an African-American military veteran who supports the renaming project.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The lawmakers, led by Reps. Joaquin Castro (D., Texas) and Ruben Gallego (D., Ariz.), are objecting to the appointees because they were tapped during the Trump administration: &#8220;The work of removing Confederate names from the Department of Defense cannot be trusted to appointees of a President who gave aid and comfort to the ideological heirs of the Confederacy,&#8221; the Congressional Hispanic Caucus wrote in a letter on Friday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"posts-content__category-widget md:hidden -ml-4 -mr-4 my-8 px-4 py-6 bg-gray-100\">\n<h4 class=\"mt-0 text-red-600 font-medium font-sans uppercase\">Recent Stories in Biden Administration<\/h4>\n<ul class=\"list-none p-0 \">\n<li class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/hispanic-caucus-takes-aim-at-african-american-veterans-service-on-key-panel\/\"><strong>Hispanic Caucus Takes Aim at African-American Veteran&#8217;s Service on Key Panel<\/strong><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/labor-board-dismisses-union-misconduct-complaints-following-biden-purge\/\"><strong>Labor Board Dismisses Union Misconduct Complaints Following Biden Purge<\/strong><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"text-black block mb-3 pb-3 border-b border-white\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/biden-cancels-major-foreign-policy-speech-due-to-two-inches-of-snow\/\"><strong>Biden Cancels &#8216;Major&#8217; Foreign Policy Speech Due to Two Inches of Snow<\/strong><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, <\/span>one of those appointees is pushing back. Earl Matthews, an African-American military veteran who supports the renaming project, slammed the lawmakers\u2019 move.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;It is regrettable that anyone would believe that my presence on the renaming commission would undermine the commission\u2019s legitimacy merely because I accepted a political appointment in the last Administration,&#8221; Matthews told the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Washington Free Beacon<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. &#8220;This matter is above politics, it\u2019s about properly honoring America\u2019s heroes and about following the law.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A Harvard Law School graduate and colonel in the District of Columbia National Guard, Matthews served as deputy assistant to President Donald Trump and senior director for defense policy and strategy on the National Security Council before leaving the post in November 2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He expressed support for Austin&#8217;s confirmation in December, writing in a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Washington Post<\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2020\/12\/15\/course-lloyd-austin-is-well-qualified-be-defense-secretary\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">op-ed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that while he &#8220;would have preferred that President Trump nominate the next defense secretary,&#8221; Austin is a &#8220;strategic leader&#8221; who &#8220;has ably and honorably served for more than 40 years.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Friday\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/castro.house.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/1.29.2021%20CHC%20Letter%20re%20Confederate%20Renaming%20Commission.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">letter<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus implores Austin to use the renaming of Confederate bases to &#8220;recognize and celebrate the contributions and sacrifice of generations of Latino Americans.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That is a goal that Matthews says he not only has no intention of undermining, but one that he shares.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;It is ironic that I share a reverence for iconic Hispanic American war heroes with some who do not know me personally, yet have suggested that my presence on the commission is illegitimate,&#8221; Matthews told the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Free Beacon<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. He pointed in particular to Navy officer Everett Alvarez, a Mexican American who was one of the longest-held prisoners in the Vietnam War, and to General Richard Cavazos, the first Mexican American to attain the &#8220;general&#8221; rank.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Friends and allies of Matthews are also speaking out against the attacks levied by the Hispanic Caucus. Decorated Vietnam War veteran and longtime head of the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce Al Zapanta called Matthews a &#8220;class act&#8221; who is sympathetic to the panel&#8217;s mission.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;My feeling is very simple: A guy like him ought to be kept, because he understands the issue and will be very supportive,&#8221; Zapanta told the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Free Beacon<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. &#8220;If they want to take some people off, start out with those who are not veterans and those who are not minorities.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rep. August Pfluger (R., Texas) echoed<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Zapanta&#8217;s sentiment. An Air Force veteran who served in active duty for two decades before joining the National Security Council in 2019, Pfluger said Matthews would bring a &#8220;diverse perspective&#8221; to the commission.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;Col. Earl Matthews has served his country with distinction for over two decades in the U.S. Army National Guard. He grew up in the inner city, persevered to overcome racial inequality, and graduated from multiple distinguished universities\u2014including Harvard Law School,&#8221; Pfluger said. &#8220;He was rightfully appointed to serve on the commission for renaming military installations and will bring a fair, balanced, and diverse perspective.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lawmakers created the eight-person commission through the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which orders the removal of Confederate names from U.S. military property within three years. Trump vetoed the annual defense bill in late December, citing in part his opposition to the &#8220;renaming of certain military installations.&#8221; Congress overrode the veto days later.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Austin has the authority to replace any of the four panelists appointed by the Trump administration. In addition to Matthews, this includes Joshua Whitehouse, Ann Johnston, and Sean McLean. Another four members will be appointed by the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Defense officials told the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Free Beacon<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that the department is &#8220;aware of the letter from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus&#8221; but declined to comment further. Castro did not return a request for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/hispanic-caucus-takes-aim-at-african-american-veterans-service-on-key-panel\/\">Hispanic Caucus Takes Aim at African-American Veteran&#8217;s Service on Key Panel<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\">Washington Free Beacon<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A group of Hispanic lawmakers is calling on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to remove four Trump administration appointees from a panel tasked with renaming military bases that honor Confederate &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1892478,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4872,4870,4869,4400,4259,4873],"class_list":["post-115841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-african-american","tag-caucus","tag-hispanic","tag-service","tag-takes","tag-veterans"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1892478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}