Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. – Ephesians 4:31
Each year, Congress spends significant time determining the funding for the National Defense Authorization Act. Over a hundred years ago, this legislation was called the Army Appropriations Bill and, on this day in 1901, the Platt Amendment was passed as a provision of that bill. The amendment created conditions that Cuba had to meet in order for the U.S. to withdraw its troops at the end of the Spanish-American War. That war had begun, in part, due to journalists reporting that Spain was responsible for an explosion that sunk the USS Maine in Cuba’s Havana Harbor in 1898. President William McKinley’s administration had implemented an occupation of Cuba to quell revolutionaries after Spain no longer controlled the island nation in 1899. Senator Orville Platt introduced the amendment for the withdrawal.
As the Lord leads, pray with us…
- For members of the Senate as they review agreements and investigate the operations of federal agencies.
- For Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as he communicates and collaborates with U.S. allies around the world.
