Frist: Rename Pentagon After Reagan

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is planning to introduce legislation to rename the Pentagon after Ronald Reagan in honor of Reagan's decision to rebuild the military in the 1980s after years of neglect and downsizing.

The Tennessee Republican plans to attach an amendment to the next defense appropriations bill, NBC-TV's Washington affiliate reported Wednesday.

The amendment, which proposes that the Pentagon be called "The Ronald Reagan Defense Building," will be debated over the next couple of weeks when the bill goes back to the Senate floor.

Frist's office said he hoped the Senate debate would help to gauge reaction to the plan.

Reagan's defense buildup is credited with turning President Carter's "hollow military" into the world's premier fighting force, equipped with state-of-the-art weapons technology.

Writing in the New York Post on Wednesday, military analyst Ralph Peters said the impact of Reagan's election on U.S. defense readiness was almost immediate.

An Army private at the time, he noted: "When I returned to Germany in late 1981, the change in the quality and morale of the 'dirty boots' Army was already unmistakable. Even before the new equipment began arriving, the Army was regaining its fighting spirit."

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