Bryan Watch: NDAA July 12

This is an update on what congress did on Friday, July 12, which was primarily work on the National Defense Authorization Act.

In the biggest NDAA news, Rep. Barbara Lee (CA) succeeded in her decade-long quest to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution that was passed in 2002. The bill has been used as a blank check for war, and so this is a major anti-war step by the House. The amendment passed 242 to 180 (RC 464).

Lee also passed an amendment that any new AUMF bill should include a sunset clause, clear objectives, targets and scope, and have reporting requirements (RC 465). These were two major victories for anti-war forces.

Rep. Lee was less successful in cutting $16.8 billion out of an incredibly bloated Pentagon budget. Her amendment (Lee amendment #49) failed 115-307, with Democrats voting 112 to 120 against it (RC 459).

Republicans set a new low in partisanship this July by unanimously voting against the National Defense Authorization Act (HR 2500), which funds military spending (RC 473). They did it over amendments aiming to reign in the insane excesses of the Trump administration.

The Republicans tried some last minute grandstanding with a motion to recommit by Mac Thornberry (Texas) in which Republicans tried to argue the largest pay increase in ten years was still not enough for troops. They had 28 markup hearings to discuss this and never brought it—pure grandstanding (Thornerry MTR, RC 472, July 12).

There were about a dozen amendments pending before the final vote on the NDAA. Steil voted the Republican party line on every single one of them. The amendments that passed were:

• Almost all Democrats and 27 Republicans joined Rep. Mo Khanna (CA) in his efforts to prohibit unauthorized military force against the nation of Iran (RC 463).
• An amendment by Pramila Jayapal (WA) seeking independent studies on the costs of the United States nuclear weapons program (RC 471).
• An amendment by Tom Malinowski (NJ) to ban the sale of air-to-ground weapons to Saudi Arabia or the UAE for use in the war against Yemen (RC 470).
• An amendment by Bennie Thompson (MS) that would prohibit Department of Defense funds being used to house foreign nationals under the custody of ICE (RC 469).
• An amendment by Rep. Scott Tipton of Colorado to continue High Altitude Aviation Training in his district passed by a 417-6 margin, with only Justin Amash and some of the House’s most liberal members voting against it (RC 461).

Failed Amendments

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) has two failed amendments regarding the border crisis. One would have prevent the detention of undocumented immigrants in DOD facilities (RC 468) and the other would have prevented the deployment of US troops along the border to enforce immigration laws (RC 467). While a majority of Democrats supported Ocasio-Cortez, enough defected that her amendments didn’t pass.

Sylvia Garcia of Texas had a similar amendment regarding the detention of unaccompanied immigrant children that failed (RC 466).

Fortunately for the national security of the United States, Democrats were able to kill an amendment by Michael Turner (OH) seeking to restore low-yield ballistic missiles to the US arsenal (RC 462).

While a majority of Democrats supported Rep. Justin Amash (MI) in his efforts to end the indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and trying them in Article III courts, enough Democrats voted against it for the amendment to fail (RC 460).

Last, but hardly least, Democrats passed the “Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act,” which funds medical expenses and other for first responders from Ground Zero. In the almost 20 years since September 11, dozens of first responders have died from cancer and other illnesses as a direct result of their contact with contact substances (RC 474, Final Passage HR 1327, July 12).