Lawmakers Submit Letter Opposing Indefinite Detention for U.S. Citizens

Forty members of Congress have sent a letter urging the House and Senate Armed Services Committee leaders to protest provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act that would allow for the indefinite detention of American citizens. The NDAA first passed in the House of Representatives weeks ago but endured strong opposition from a handful of lawmakers in the U.S. Senate last Thursday, where the bill was passed but with the addition of an amendment that forced the measure to be revised for a final vote. The final version of the NDAA was completed and a vote on it is set to take place this week.

“I strongly oppose mandating military custody and allowing for indefinite detention without due process or trial. These provisions are deeply concerning and would risk putting American citizens in military detention, indefinitely. In short, this authority is at complete odds with the United States Constitution.” stated Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)

On December 5, Senator Rand Paul (R-KT.) wrote of the dangerous provisions found in the NDAA in the National Review: “If you allow the government the unlimited power to detain citizens without a jury trial, you are exposing yourself to the whim of those in power. That is a dangerous game.”

The final version of the bill does not address any of the concerns of members of congress.

Any issues that the Obama administration supposedly had with the Senate-passed version of the bill, apparently had nothing to do with the indefinite detention of Americans. Recent revelations by Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) indicate that the White House actually insisted that any language exempting American citizens from the indefinite detention provision be removed.

“The language which precluded the application of Section 1031 to American citizens was in the bill that we originally approved … and the administration asked us to remove the language which says that U.S. citizens and lawful residents would not be subject to this section.” said Levin.

The provisions found in Section 1031 of the bill provide the President full power to arrest and detain citizens of the United States without due process. Under that provision, the President is also given the authority to use the military to apprehend and detain those suspected individuals, dubbed “covered persons.” Section 1031, defines a “covered person” as one who either engages in terrorist acts, or is associated with an organization guilty of “belligerent acts.”

According to Senator Rand Paul the FBI publishes characteristics of people you should report as possible terrorists. The list includes the possession of “Meals Ready to Eat,” weatherproofed ammunition and high-capacity magazines, missing fingers, brightly colored stains on clothing, paying for products in cash, and changes in hair color.

Still, supporters for the bill say that it should not make exceptions for anyone, regardless of their citizenship.

“It is not unfair to make an American citizen account for the fact that they decided to help al Qaeda to kill us all and hold them as long as it takes to find intelligence about what may be coming next,” remarked Senator Graham (Rep.-S.C.) “And when they say, ‘I want my lawyer,’ you tell them, ‘Shut up. You don’t get a lawyer.’”

According to the Huffington Post, “the last time something of this magnitude was even talked about was during World War Two when Japanese-Americans were put into internment camps following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.”

While the indefinite detention provision managed to remain in the bill, some other significant items found their way out of it, including a 2014 audit requirement for the Pentagon, reports Congressional Quarterly.

Chinese flooding Pentagon supply chain with counterfeit electronic parts…

John McCain​, Republican-Arizona, and Carl Levin​, Democrat-Michigan, say that the Chinese are putting U.S. troops at risk and undercutting the American economy by selling counterfeit electronics to the Pentagon.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is conducting an ongoing investigation into the deceptive process in which parts are burned off old circuit boards, washed in rivers, dried on streets and sanded down to remove identifying marks. The salvaged parts, which can look brand new, are sold on the Internet or openly in the markets.

Investigators found that counterfeit or suspect electronic parts were installed or delivered to the military for several weapons systems. They include military aircraft such as the Air Force’s C-17 and the Marine Corps’ CH-46 helicopter, as well as the Army’s Theatre High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defense system.

The lawmakers indicated they would push for amendments to a defense bill to limit counterfeit electronics in the supply chain.

McCain, the top Republican on the committee, said: ‘We can’t tolerate the risk of a ballistic missile interceptor failing to hit its target, a helicopter pilot unable to fire his missiles or any other mission failure because of a counterfeit part.’

Investigators traced more than 70 per cent of the cases to China. Nearly 20 per cent led to the United Kingdom and Canada.

They said material in Hong Kong was trucked to cities in mainland China, specifically to the counterfeiting district of Shantou in Guangdong Province.

Mr Levin said China could stop the deception if it wanted to.

‘And they’re going to have to stop it or else they’re going to pay a heavy price if we start inspecting all of their parts that are coming into this country, because the only way to separate the wheat from the chaff is through inspections, if they keep sending us chaff,’ he said.

 

Congress considering raising fees for military retiree benefits…

Republicans and Democrats alike are signaling a willingness to make military retirees pay more for coverage as a part of Washington’s plans for fiscal austerity. The Pentagon is looking to cut health care costs that have skyrocketed from $19 billion in 2001 to $53 billion.

The Pentagon is providing health care coverage for 3.3 million active duty personnel and their dependents and 5.5 million retirees, eligible dependents and surviving spouses. Retirees outnumber the active duty, 2.3 million to 1.4 million. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently said personnel costs have put the Pentagon “on an unsustainable course.”

Veterans groups and retired generals are mobilizing to fight any changes, arguing that Americans who were willing to die for their country should be treated differently than the average worker. The American Legion has sent a letter to every member of the House and Senate asking them to spare health care benefits. The Veterans of Foreign Wars has urged its 2 million members, their families and friends to contact lawmakers and deliver the same message.

Both party leaders on the Senate Armed Services Committee – Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz. – recommended that the special deficit-cutting supercommittee look at raising enrollment fees and imposing restrictions on the military’s health care program, known as TRICARE. Current military members would be grandfathered in.

McCain and Levin also favored creating a commission to look at military retirement benefits and make recommendations for changes.

“Any changes to TRICARE that put the burden back on the beneficiaries is not supported by the American Legion,” said Peter Gaytan, the group’s executive director. He wondered about future benefits for his 19-year-old nephew who heads to Afghanistan in December.

Sens. Tom Coburn​, R-Okla., and Mark Warner, D-Va., members of the Armed Services panel, also expressed their openness to cost-cutting changes to the military’s entitlement program.

“I think we have to look at whether savings can be achieved, but we have to keep our promise to people who were recruited based on those benefits, and we also ought to look at whether there’s ways to improve the benefit structure,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in an interview last week.

That prospect has Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, fearful of the next step.

“All our worries are starting to come to fruition,” Davis said.

The debt deal reached this past summer between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans set in motion some $450 billion worth of cuts in projected defense spending over 10 years. The Defense Department budget has nearly doubled to $700 billion in the 10 years since the Sept. 11 terror attack. That figure doesn’t include the trillion-plus spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 12-member, bipartisan supercommittee has a mandate to come up with at least $1.2 trillion in cuts by Nov. 23. If it fails to produce a plan or Congress rejects its proposal, automatic, across-the-board cuts of $1.2 trillion kick in, half of it from defense spending.

Levin and McCain also support an annual enrollment fee for TRICARE for Life, the health care program that now has no fee for participation. President Obama proposed an initial annual fee of $200.

Levin said future increases in fees should be tied to the same index used to determine hikes in the TRICARE Prime program, which has the lowest out-of-pocked expenses.

McCain urged the supercommittee to consider restricting working-age military retirees and their dependents from enrolling in TRICARE Prime. The retirees could still enroll in other TRICARE programs. McCain pointed out that the CBO has estimated that such restrictions could save $111 billion over 10 years. Active-duty personnel would still be enrolled in the program automatically.

In the House, lawmakers are less inclined to make any changes in health care benefits. Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, agreed to a slight increase in TRICARE Prime fees for working-age military retirees. The fees had been unchanged for 11 years at $230 a year for an individual and $460 for a family.

Asked about the recommendations from Levin and McCain to the supercommittee, McKeon’s office said the House has already made changes and suggested additional savings come from civilian rather military health care and retirement programs. The House vote to raise the annual TRICARE Prime fees by $2.50 for individuals and $5 for families.