House GOP Adds Dysfunction, Obstruction & Distraction to Defense Bill
Huffington Post – Republicans Try To Strip Predatory Lending Protections For American Troops, Again
House Republicans are again attacking measures aimed at protecting U.S. troops from predatory lending practices, two weeks after a similar GOP effort failed.
…In 2006, Congress passed legislation cracking down on some forms of high-interest credit, particularly payday lending. Lenders responded by exploiting loopholes in the law, and late last year, the Department of Defense proposed a new set of regulations designed to curb these creative workarounds that target troops.
Republicans have been working to kill those regulations before they can take effect. This week, Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) will offer legislation that would block DOD from finalizing its rules until a host of unrealistic technical certifications could be made for a database of active-duty military members.
Thousands of service members receive short-term, high-interest loans each year…One family that took out a $2,600 loan ended up paying back $3,966.84 over the course of a year. Another borrower spent $1,428.28 to pay off a $485 loan in just six months.
In late April, Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee attempted to delay the new DOD rules, but an amendment from Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) – herself a veteran of the Iraq War – stripped out the GOP language, after winning over five Republicans. Democratic support for Duckworth's amendment was unanimous.
"The House Armed Services Committee acted in a bipartisan fashion to move forward with urgent protections for our Service Members from predatory lenders," Duckworth (D-Ill.) told HuffPost in an emailed statement Monday. "It is disappointing that there is yet another push for delay, but I remain steadfast in my commitment to enacting these reforms and standing up for our Service Members. Now is the time to act."
POLITICO – In House bill, arms makers wrote their own rules
In his bill set to pass this week to overhaul how the Pentagon buys weapons, the new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee relied heavily on those with most at stake: the nation's arms makers.
Defense contractors played a major role in crafting the proposal by Rep. Mac Thornberry designed to reform the Pentagon acquisition system, according to a POLITICO comparison of the legislation and industry proposals.
Some of the provisions in the Texas Republican's bill could end up boosting company profits — at the expense of taxpayers.
The Hill – GOP House members: Strike immigration text from defense bill
A group of 25 House Republicans is asking the powerful House Rules Committee to remove an amendment to the annual defense policy bill that could open the door to illegal immigrants serving in the military.
The group — led by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) — wants the panel's chairman, Pete Sessions (R-Texas), to strike a provision by Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) that encourages the secretary of Defense to review allowing recipients of President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to serve in the armed forces.
The House Armed Services Committee, of which Brooks is a member, approved its version of the defense policy blueprint in a marathon markup session last week. Gallego's amendment was added to the massive $612 billion authorization bill in a 33-30 roll call vote, attracting six Republican supporters.
In a statement, Gallego skewered those who signed onto the letter, saying "there is no reason to strike it from NDAA other than to appease the fringe of the GOP."
He argued his proposal "shouldn't be a controversial issue. The Secretary of Defense has the authority to deem what is in the national interest of the United States, and all we are asking is for him to consider allowing DACA recipients who meet the criteria and want to serve, into our military for that same reason."
Huffington Post – Defense Bill Would Put 100,000 Untraceable Guns On Streets
Psst. Want an untraceable gun? Courtesy of Congress and the U.S. military?
That may soon be possible thanks to a provision tacked onto this year's National Defense Authorization Act, which the House of Representatives is set to pass this week.
According to a white paper prepared for Congress by the Army opposing the amendment, the measure would allow the unregulated distribution of up to 100,000 Colt .45s, more formally known as .45-caliber semiautomatic M1911 handguns.
The provision, added by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), changes parts of federal rules that were meant to boost rifle skills in the country under a program dating back to Teddy Roosevelt. Under existing law, which was updated in 1996, the Department of Defense makes surplus military rifles available to the public through something known as the Civilian Marksmanship Program, which has a regional headquarters in Rogers' state.
Rogers' amendment would change language in the law that specifies certain rifles allowed in the program to include the much broader category of "firearms."
…according to the military's white paper, "There is a significant risk of approximately 100K semi-automatic handguns that are virtually untraceable, being released into commerce."
That's because although the amendment specifies that the weapons cannot be sold to people who are barred by law from having guns, the CMP sells guns over the Internet, and has no mechanism to verify who is making purchases. And on top of that, although the CMP is allowed by law to sell guns across state lines, it is not covered by the Gun Control Act, and is not required to keep records tracking purchasers.
The Army noted in its opposition that the Department of Justice has tracked an average of nearly 1,800 Colt .45s being used in crimes every year over the last decade, including a significant but unspecified number of those guns that were originally military surplus.
Rogers' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesman for Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said his boss agreed with the Army and would try to strip the amendment.
"This provision, which the Army has said it does not want or need, could potentially put nearly 100,000 untraceable .45-caliber military-grade handguns on our streets," the spokesman, Michael Amato, said in an email. "This provision is an unnecessary risk."
Who has Speaker Boehner and the House Republican Conference's ear? Clearly, not hard-working American families.