Washington, D.C- Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) made the following statement after the submission of over 60 amendments by Congressional Progressive Caucus Members to the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):
“Yet again, Congressional Republicans are pushing a bill determining Pentagon priorities that fails to ensure the genuine security of the American people. After spending nearly $5.6 trillion, taking service members from their families, and prosecuting the so-called ‘War on Terror’ for nearly two decades, the United States hasdone little to stabilize volatile regions across the world. It’s long past time to fundamentally change course. This measure authorizes half of our discretionary budget to the Pentagon despite internal reports of rampant waste. Meanwhile, Republicans passed a huge tax giveaway for billionaires and corporations, while cutting funds for diplomacy.
“We are proud of our fellow Congressional Progressive Caucus members who have proposed dozens of amendments to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. These amendments present a vision for a better world, where U.S. defense policy advances human rights and peace, and where our tax dollars improve working conditions for Americans rather than facilitate job outsourcing, environmental degradation, and unfair employment practices. We applaud the continued leadership of our colleagues as voices for justice on behalf of working people at home and communities abroad. The following amendments provide a glimpse of how a progressive agenda would end needless conflict and chart a new direction for our country.”
- Amendment 372: [Adams (NC), Hastings (FL)]
- Asks the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy to report to Congress on the progress of all Federal departments and agencies in complying with the 1994 executive order promoting procurement with small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, historically black colleges and universities, and minority institutions
- Amendment 374: [Adams (NC), Hastings (FL)]
- Allows for additional consideration of current students and graduates of Minority Serving Institutions during DoD’s Direct Hiring process.
- Amendment 370: [Adams (NC), Hastings (FL)]
- Promotes increased participation in Federal procurement by Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
- Amendment 3[Takano (CA)]
- Creates demonstration project in the Air Force for 15-20 Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals.
- Amendment 510: [Beyer (VA)]
- Prevents funds from being used for holding immigrant children at military facilities for the purpose of family separation.
- Amendment 416: [Clarke (NY)]
- Grants agencies the ability to double the value of the contract awarded to U.S. Virgin Islands small business concerns for purposes of the small business prime contracting goal for a duration of four years after enactment of the legislation. There is also a reporting requirement to track the number and amount of contracts awarded to eligible firms.
- Amendment 288: [Demings (FL)]
- Expressing the sense of Congress that the intelligence community should dedicate resources to further expose key financial networks used by the Russian political class to hide stolen money. In addition, requires a classified report on Putin and other senior Russian officials regarding their financial assets, which shall be submitted to Congress within 60 days of enactment.
- Amendment 80: [Dingell (MI)]
- Expresses the sense of Congress that Muslim members of the Armed Forces and Muslim civilian employees of the Department of Defense should be honored for their contribution to the Armed Forces.
- Amendment 441: [Ellison (MN), Pocan (WI), Grijalva (AZ)]
- Prohibits federal contracts with companies that have repeat and willful OSHA violations.
- Amendment 443: [Ellison (MN), Pocan (WI), Grijalva (AZ)]
- Prohibits federal contracts with companies that have repeat and willful wage theft violations.
- Amendment 106: [Gabbard (HI)]
- Strikes section 1225, a required strategy to counter destabilizing activities of Iran.
- Amendment 109: [Gabbard (HI)]
- Issues a Statement of Congress welcoming a United States-North Korea summit, recognizing that the American people are committed to the pursuit of peace, urges the President to exhaust all non-military avenues before any use of military force, and urges the United Nations and partner countries to maintain economic and diplomatic pressure until North Korea has fully dismantled its weapons of mass destruction program.
- Amendment 204: [Gabbard (HI)]
- Requires a report from the Department of Defense describing the instances in which members of the United States armed forces were involved in hostilities since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War until present day and a plan for the United States to end participation in the ongoing conflict in Syria. Limits funds authorized for purposes other than fighting Al-Qaeda, ISIS and related groups, prohibits funds authorized for Syrian government regime change, and prohibits funds authorized for use against Iran or related forces in Syria unless specifically authorized
- Amendment 208: [Gabbard (HI)]
- Requires a report outlining security guarantees the Department of Defense or other relevant departments could provide North Korea during the course of diplomatic negotiations.
- Amendment 107: [Gabbard (HI)]
- Prohibits the President from using the Armed Forces to conduct a first-use nuclear strike, unless the strike is pursuant to a congressional declaration of war or AUMF that directly authorizes such a strike, or the strike is retaliatory.
- Amendment 203: [Gabbard (HI)]
- Amends section 1225 to strike the implementation requirement of the required strategy, lessens reporting requirements to a one time report rather than until 2021, prohibits funds from being used for Iranian government regime change, and prohibits funds to combat non-state actors in the region. It also makes clear that nothing in the section should be construed to contravene the War Powers Resolution or constitutional congressional war authorities.
- Amendment 108: [Gabbard (HI), Mast (FL), Ruiz (CA)]
- Establishes a requirement for the Department of Defense to record on periodic health assessments, post deployment health assessments, and separation history and physical examinations whether or not a servicemember has been exposed to burn pits, and for the Department of Defense to share this data with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
- Amendment 376 [Grijalva (AZ), Tsongas (MA), McEachin (VA), Speier (CA), Polis (CO), Brown (MD)]
- Strikes harmful anti-environmental provisions that harm marine mammals and other endangered species
- Amendment 178: [Jackson Lee (TX)]
- Requires Secretary of Defense to report to Congress programs and procedures employed to ensure students studying abroad through Department of Defense National Security Education Programs are trained to recognize, resist, and report against recruitment efforts by agents of foreign governments.
- Amendment 179: [Jackson Lee (TX)]
- Directs the Secretary of Defense to develop plans for early detection, mitigation, and defense against state sponsored cyberattacks targeting federal public election assets, election administrators, election workers, or voter engagement efforts.
- Amendment 180: [Jackson Lee (TX)]
- Directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct, and report to Congress within 180 days, results of study regarding whether requirement to notify Voting Action Officer within 10 days of registering to vote in a state where service member resides due to a duty reassignment imposes significant burden on military voters.
- Amendment 181: [Jackson Lee (TX)]
- Establishes program providing technical assistance by U.S. military women to military women in other countries combating terrorism, human trafficking and narcotics trafficking and their impact on women and girls.
- Amendment 182: [Jackson Lee (TX)]
- Directs Secretary of Navy to submit report to Congress on the feasibility of applying desalinization technologies to provide drought relief in areas impacted by sharp declines in water availability for both military as well as civilian purposes.
- Amendment 185: [Jackson Lee (TX)]
- Directs that the Secretary of Defense shall provide technical assistance to Nigeria for the establishment of a centralized missing persons database and Victims Relief Fund in Nigeria.
- Amendment 186: [Jackson Lee (TX)]
- Requires a report on the readiness of the National Guard and Reserve to respond to natural disasters.
- Amendment 187: [Jackson Lee (TX)]
- Provides a report 220 days after enactment on the DoD’s capacity to provide survivors of natural disasters with emergency short term housing.
- Amendment 184: [Jackson Lee (TX)]
- Condemns the actions of Boko Haram and directs that the Secretary of Defense shall provide technical assistance to Nigeria for the establishment of a centralized missing persons database and Victims Relief Fund in Nigeria.
- Amendment 530: [Jayapal (WA), Johnson, Hank (GA)]
- Restricts the transfer of certain Department of Defense weapons and vehicles to law enforcement under the 1033 program.
- Amendment 454: [Jayapal (WA), Smith, Adam (WA), Lee, Barbara (CA)]
- Strikes section 1022 of the FY2012 NDAA and amends Section 1021 of same Act to eliminate indefinite military detention of any person detained under AUMF authority in US, territories or possessions by providing immediate transfer to trial and proceedings by a court established under Article III of the Constitution of the United states or by an appropriate State court.
- Amendment 455: [Jayapal (WA), Pocan (WI)]
- Expresses the sense of Congress that any authorization to appropriate increases to combined budgets of National Defense Budget (050) and Overseas Contingency Operations should be matched for non-defense discretionary budget.
- Amendment 456: [Jayapal (WA), Pocan (WI)]
- Prohibits the use of funds for participating in air or ground efforts led by Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates against Houthis forces in Yemen until Yemen’s Hodeida port is certified by the Secretary of Defense as completely open to aid and commercial flow of food, fuel, and medicine.
- Amendment 502: [Johnson, Hank (GA)]
- Prohibits U.S. funds to the Honduras military and police, until the Honduran government certifies that they have reconciled outstanding human rights violations.
- Amendment 121: [ Kennedy (MA)]
- Establishes the National Russian Threat Response Center within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to synchronize and analyze information pertaining to continued Russian aggression across the intelligence community and among international allies
- Amendment 327: [Khanna (CA)]
- Requires a study on the various neo-Nazi and ultra-nationalist individuals who are part of military units, police forces, militias, and gangs active in Ukraine.
- Amendment 323: [Khanna (CA), Lee (CA)]
- Requires Secretary Defense to issue a declassified report on the impact of the Civil War in Yemen on the growth of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
- Amendment 325: [Khanna (CA), Lee (CA)]
- Prevents refueling of non-United States military aircraft for missions conducted against the Houthi in Yemen.
- Amendment 338: [Khanna (CA), Lee (CA)]
- Requires Secretary Defense to conduct an investigation to determine if coalition partners or United States military or intelligence personnel violated federal law or department of defense policy while conducting operations in Yemen
- Amendment 28: [Lawrence (MI)]
- Requires the Secretary of Defense to share lessons learned and best practices on progress of gender integration implementation in the Armed Forces.
- Amendment 201: [Lawrence (MI)]
- Requires DOD, the Small Business Administration, and other agencies to increase outreach to minority- and women-owned small businesses under the Small Business Innovation Research & Technology Transfer programs. These programs, which award R&D funding to small, innovative tech businesses, have not given sufficient outreach and awards to minority- and women-owned businesses.
- Amendment 27: [Lawrence (MI)]
- Requires each component of the Armed Forces to examine successful strategies in use by foreign military services to recruit and retain women and to consider potential best practices for implementation of recruitment and retention of women in the Armed Forces, as recommended by the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services.
- Amendment 29: [Lawrence (MI)]
- States that the Secretary of Defense shall review and enhance the content of current transition assistance programs to better meet the unique needs of servicewomen transitioning out of the Armed Forces.
- Amendment 223: [Lee (CA), Welch (VT) Jones (NC)]
- Instructs the President the United States to submit to Congress on the legal authority to conduct military strikes against Syria
- Amendment 224: [Lee (CA)]
- Prohibits use of funds to be used to overthrow the Government of North Korea
- Amendment 225: [Lee (CA), Lewis (MN) Normal (SC), Welch (VT), Jones (NC)]
- Instructs the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to Congress a report on how funds authorized for overseas contingency operations were ultimately used.
- Amendment 226: [Lee (CA)]
- Limits defense contractor pay and requires a report on the number of employees on contractor compensation
- Amendment 227: [Lee (CA0), Jones (NC), Ellison (MN), Welch (VT)]
- Repeals the 2001 AUMF after 240 days of enactment of this act.
- Amendment 228: [Lee (CA), Jones (NC) Ellison (MN), Welch (VT)]
- Repeals the 2002 AUMF after 240 days of enactment of this act.
- Amendment 229: [Lee (CA), Welch (VT)]
- States that nothing in this Act may be construed as authorizing the use of force against North Korea.
- Amendment 230: [Lee (CA), Lewis (MN) Normal (SC), Welch (VT), Jones (NC)]
- Reduces the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) by $9,000,000,000
- Amendment 231: [Lee (CA), Jones (NC)]
- Requires a report from the Secretary of Defense on the progress made under the United States-Afghan Compact
- Amendment 14: [Lee (CA)]
- Prohibits use of funds to be used to overthrow the Government of Iran
- Amendment 397: [Nolan (MN)]
- Prohibits funding from the Counter-ISIS Train and Equip Fund to recipients that the Secretary of Defense has reported as having previously misused provided training or equipment.
- Amendment 399: [Nolan (MN)]
- Prohibits the use of funds authorized by this Act to be made available to deploy members of the Armed Forces to participate in the ongoing civil war in Yemen.
- Amendment 401: [Nolan (MN)]
- Expresses the sense of Congress that a strong domestic iron ore and steel industry is vital to the national security of the United States.
- Amendment 402: [ Nolan (MN)]
- Strikes the authorization of funds made available under the Overseas Contingency Operations account. (Title XV)
- Amendment 548: [Nolan (MN)]
- Clarifies and makes certain specifications for the troop reporting requirement and the use of waivers
- Amendment 406: [Pocan (WI), Lee (CA)]
- Requires the Secretary to submit a report to Congress within 120 days of enactment regarding the national security implications posed to the United States and its ally, Israel, by the worsening social, economic, and humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip.
- Amendment 407: [Pocan (WI)]
- Requires Secretary of Defense to submit a report to Congress within 120 days after enactment on whether Israel is permitting Members of Congress access to Gaza Strip to fulfill official oversight duties regarding U.S. security assistance to Israel.
- Amendment 507: [Pocan (WI)]
- Requires a report within 120 of enactment regarding all activities conducted by members of the Armed Forces and civilian personnel of the Department of Defense in providing assistance to the military coalition led by the Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates against the Houthi forces in Yemen.
- Amendment 508: [Pocan (WI), Amash (MI), Jones (NC), McGovern (MA), Lee (CA)]
- Bans precision guided munitions transfers to Saudi Arabia until the Secretary of Defense certifies that U.S. Armed Forces have ended unauthorized hostilities in the Saudi-led war against Yemen’s Houthi forces, begun in 2015.
- Amendment 509: [Pocan (WI)]
- Requires the National Guard Bureau to re-examine the contract and wage determinations for a contractor it utilizes for Guard support services, and to report its findings back to Congress.
- Amendment 254: [Schakowsky (IL) Lee (CA) Speier (CA)]
- Seeks to limit contracting for security serviced or training with those that have business interests that conflict with the national security interests of the United States.
- Amendment 24: [Takano (CA)]
- Prohibits proprietary educational institutions from using revenues derived from Military Tuition Assistance funds for advertising, marketing, and recruitment activities.
- Amendment 50: [Velázquez (NY)]
- Directs SBA to raise awareness and support business conversions to employee ownership through SBA entrepreneurial development and lending programs. Modernizes SBA’s 7(a) loan guarantee program to increase access to capital for employee owned small businesses and cooperatives.
- Amendment 417: [Velázquez (NY)]
- Requires the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to the congressional defense committees a report containing a study of the immediate, long-term, and potential ongoing health effects of the live-fire training at Vieques Naval Training Range conducted by the Navy before 2002 and other activities of the armed forces on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico.
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