The Senate Intelligence Authorization Act (SB 1761), introduced Friday by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and already approved by the committee, concludes with a one sentence section — Section 623 — that appears to threaten WikiLeaks with potential harsh actions. The section categorizes the news organization, which helps expose information obtained from whistleblowers, as resembling "a non-state hostile intelligence service." read on...
Rep. John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN) announced on Monday that he will not seek reelection in 2018 to the United States House of Representatives. In addition to being one of the longest-serving Republican members of the House (representing the second district of Tennessee since 1988), Duncan, who argues that being antiwar is a conservative position, is also one of the House’s strongest proponents for peace.
In his April of 2015 editorial “A Return to The Peace Party,” Duncan lamented the Republican Party drifting toward being a war-supporting party and argued that it should revert to its past position as the peace party. “When I was a teenager,” Duncan wrote, “I remember reading a publication from the Republican National Committee that said, ‘Democrats start wars, Republicans end them.’” Duncan wrote in the editorial that he not only thought the party’s shift toward hawkishness is wrong but also declared, “I think it is a recipe for defeat if my Republican party becomes known as a party favoring permanent, forever wars—war without end.” read on...
Each year we could look forward to the traditional August recess for some relief from legislators in Washington, DC passing more laws to grow government at the expense of liberty. Not so much this year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday that this summer the United States Senate will stay in session for the first two weeks of its planned August recess.
On Thursday, the United States House of Representatives approved H.J.Res. 40. The legislation prohibits the imposition of regulations published in December that define a process for placing individuals, who the Social Security Administration unilaterally determines have sufficient mental health problems, into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) database so the government may restrain them from purchasing and possessing guns. The regulations, which had been in the works for years, would breach the privacy of affected individuals, while also denying respect for their due process rights and their constitutionally protected right to bear arms. read on...
US House Member Justin Amash (R-MI) announced Wednesday on Twitter that the Obama administration has agreed to the request Amash and fellow House Member Walter Jones (R-NC) made to President Barack Obama on December 19 that a classified briefing be provided for all Congress members concerning evidence being used to support claims that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 US presidential election to help Donald Trump’s campaign. read on...
During consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the spring, the proposal that women be required to sign up with Selective Service just as are men started on a roller coaster ride in the United States Congress. That ride had a couple more turns this week. On Tuesday, a United States Senate and House of Representatives conference committee, which was creating a compromise version of the NDAA because the two bodies had passed differing bills, released a final bill that leaves out such a requirement. Then, on Thursday, the Obama administration announced support for requiring women to register with Selective Service. read on...
On October, 29, 2015, just over one year ago, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) became speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) had announced about a month earlier his resignation from the House after House members had become increasingly vocal in their disapproval of Boehner’s leadership and momentum had built significantly towards Boehner’s ouster from the speaker position. read on...
Rebecca Kheel reports in the Hill that the US House Rules Committee on Monday removed from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which the House Armed Services Committee approved last month, a provision requiring women to register with the Selective Services System. The bill is expected to be considered on the House floor this week. The registration requirement would pave the way for conscripting women into the US military. Last week the Armed Services Committee also included the requirement in its version of the NDAA. read on...
Last month the Armed Services Committee of the United States House of Representatives voted to require women to register with the Selective Service System, as men are currently required, to facilitate women being drafted into the US military. The women draft provision was included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed by the committee. Thursday, the US< Senate Armed Services Committee joined in the call for making women subject to a potential draft when the Senate committee included such a Selective Service registration requirement in its version of the NDAA. read on...
Wednesday night the US House Armed Services Committee passed an amendment to require women to register for a potential military draft via the Selective Service system. The requirement already applies to men. The amendment is part the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that passed in the committee early this morning.
Richard Lardner of the Associated Press recounts of the amendments’ consideration, reporting that committee member Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) proposed the amendment to start a debate about the recent move in the military to expand women troops’ involvement in combat, with which Hunter has disagreement. Hunter voted against his own amendment, but the amendment still passed by a vote of 32 to 30. read on...
