(Source: Council for a Livable World)
LIST OF MAJOR SENATE AMENDMENTS TO FISCAL YEAR 2008
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL H.R. 1585
[New
information bolded]
Withdrawal from Iraq
================
Sens. Levin (D-MI) & Reed (D-RI), Smith, Hagel,
Kerry, Snowe, Biden, Obama, Clinton, and Durbin filed amendment No. 2087, a
strengthened version of an amendment previously adopted as part of the first
version of the Supplemental by a vote of 51 – 47 but later vetoed by the
President. The amendment requires troop
withdrawals to begin 120 days after enactment of the bill, with most troops out
by April 30, 2008. After that date,
troops would continue to have three primary roles: training of Iraqis, counterterrorism and
protecting American personnel and infrastructure.
=======================
Authorization to remain in Iraq
=======================
Sen. Byrd (D-WV) filed amendment No. 2003 stating
that nothing in the bill provides a specific authorization for American troops
to remain in Iraq.
================
Withdrawal from Iraq
================
Sen. Byrd (D-WV) filed amendments No. 2004 and 2028
requiring the President to submit a plan within 60 days for withdrawal of
U.S. forces from
Iraq.
=================
Withdrawal from Iraq
=================
Sen. Hagel (R-NE) filed amendments No. 2048 and 2058
to require a phased redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq not later than 120 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, with the goal of redeploying by March 31, 2008 all
U.S. combat forces from
Iraq except for a limited number for
specified purposes.
==============
Iraq Study Group
==============
Sens. Salazar (D-CO), Alexander, Pryor, Bennett,
Casey, Gregg, Lincoln, Sununu, Collins, Domenici, Nelson of Florida, Landrieu
and McCaskill filed as an amendment No. 2063 their bill S. 1545 endorsing the
recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, including a goal for a drawdown of
troops.
[correction from yesterday] Sen. Chambliss (R-GA)
filed amendment No. 2193, an unfriendly amendment, to the Salazar-Alexander
amendment No. 2063. The
Salazar-Alexander amendment endorses the recommendations of the Iraq Study
Group. The Chambliss amendment reads in
part: “the President's new strategy for Iraq, announced in January 2007,
should not be significantly altered until General Petraeus and Ambassador
Crocker report to Congress on the progress of that strategy in September
2007.”
========================
Avoiding a
failed state in Iraq
========================
Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) filed amendment No. 2100 to
express the sense of the Senate that it is in the national security interest of
the United States that Iraq not become a failed state and a safe haven for
terrorists.
Sen.
McConnell (R-KY) filed amendment No. 2241 saying that the Senate should avoid
any strategy leaving a failed state in Iraq and should not pass any
legislation that would undermine the military’s ability to prevent a failed
state.
=================
Withdrawal from Iraq
=================
Sen. Dodd (D-CT) filed amendment No. 2111 to begin
Iraq troop withdrawal within a month
and terminate funding for combat operations by April 30, 2008 except for limited
purposes.
==========================
Abandon Iraq combat
missions
==========================
Sens. Collins (R-ME) & Ben Nelson (D-NE) filed
amendments No. 2124 & 2145 to
require U.S. troops to abandon combat missions and instead to focus on training
the Iraqi security forces, targeting al-Qaida, protecting U.S. personnel and
infrastructure and protecting Iraq's borders, with a goal of completing the
transition by March 31, 2008.
====================
Deauthorize the Iraq
War
====================
Sens. Clinton (D-NY), Byrd (D-WV) & Sanders
(I-VT) filed amendment No. 2146 to revoke the authority Congress granted for the
war in 2002 so that it expires October 11, 2007, the fifth anniversary of the
original authorization’s enactment. The
amendment also requires the President to seek a new authorization for the
Iraq war.
=================
Withdrawal from Iraq
=================
Sens. Feingold (D-WI), Leahy, Dodd, Kerry, Boxer,
Whitehouse, Kennedy, Harkin, Sanders, and Wyden filed amendment No. 2171 to
begin troop withdrawals from Iraq within 120 days of enactment and completed by
March 31, 2008, leaving troops only for counterterrorism, training and
protection of U.S. infrastructure and personnel. The Senate rejected this amendment when it
was attached to the Supplemental Appropriations bill 29 - 67 on May
17.
===========
Troops in Iraq
===========
Sens. Warner (R-VA) and Lugar (R-IN) filed amendment
No. 2208 to require President Bush by October 16 to come up with a plan to
dramatically narrow the mission of U.S. troops in Iraq with a
recommendation to begin implementing the plan by December
31.
====================
Permanent
bases in Iraq
====================
Sens.
Biden (D-DE), Cantwell and Whitehouse filed amendment No. 2242 to bar permanent
bases in Iraq.
OTHER
AMENDMENTS FILED
============
Missile defense
============
Sens. Vitter (R-LA) & Kyl (R-AZ) filed amendment
No. 2010 to authorize an additional $87 million for Aegis missile defense for
destroyers. Sens. Kyl (R-AZ), Vitter,
Inhofe, Lieberman, and Lott filed amendment No. 2178 for the same
purpose.
============
Habeas corpus
============
Sens. Leahy (D-VT) & Specter (R-PA) filed
amendment No. 2022 to grant detainees the right to challenge their detentions
through habeas corpus petitions.
========================
Presidential signing statements
========================
Sens. Specter (R-PA) & Kerry (D-MA) filed
amendment No. 2021 stating that Congress hereby exercises its power to forbid
judicial reliance on presidential signing statements as a source of authority in
the interpretation of acts of Congress.
=============
Survivor benefits
=============
Sen. Nelson (D-FL) filed amendment No. 2000 to repeal
the requirement for a reduction of survivor benefits plan survivor annuities by
dependency and indemnity compensation.
=============
Fairness doctrine
=============
Sen. Coleman (R-MN) and 13 co-sponsors filed
amendment No. 2020 barring the return of the “fairness doctrine” for
television.
Sen. Coleman (R-MN) and 25 co-sponsors filed
amendment No. 2189 barring the return of the “fairness doctrine” for
television.
=====
Darfur
=====
Sens. Clinton (D-NY) & Mikulski (D-MD) filed
amendments No. 2041 & 2108 to require reports on the U.S. policy to ameliorate the violence in
Darfur and the affected region and on DOD
contributions in support of any peacekeeping operations
there.
Sen. Dole (R-NC) filed amendment No. 2130 to require
a report on security capabilities needed to stabilize Darfur.
==========
Home leave
==========
Sen. Pryor (D-AR) filed amendment No. 2027 to provide
additional home leave for soldiers whose tours in Iraq or Afghanistan have been involuntarily
extended.
=============================
Couples deployed to combat
zones
=============================
Sen. Gregg (R-NH) filed amendment No. 2030 to limit
the simultaneous deployment to combat zones of dual-military couples who have
minor dependents.
=======================================
National Guard equipment from missile
defense
=======================================
Sen. Dodd (D-CT) filed amendment No. 2033 to provide
$500 million for the Army National Guard to repair and replace war-battered
equipment to address critical shortfalls identified by the National Guard
Bureau, with the funds to be cut from the European Missile Defense system ($225
million) and Airborne Laser ($275 million).
============
End strengths
============
Sen. Coleman (R-MN) filed amendments No. 2037, 2040
(with Klobuchar) & 2117 to permit the Pentagon to adjust end strengths
ceilings (personnel limits) by 3% rather than 2%.
==================
Global climate change
==================
Sens. Durbin (D-IL), Hagel and Feinstein filed
amendment No. 2042 to require a National Intelligence Estimate on the
anticipated geopolitical effects of global climate change and the implications
of such effects on the national security of the United
States.
========================
Retirement of B-52 bombers
========================
Sens. Conrad (D-ND), Dorgan, Landrieu and Vitter
filed amendments No. 2053 & 2172 to require maintaining 63 B-52 bombers with
11 in reserve.
==========================
Chemical weapons destruction
==========================
Sens. McConnell (R-KY), Salazar, Allard and Bunning
filed amendment No. 2061 to increase funding for chemical weapons
demilitarization at Blue Grass Army Depot, Kentucky, and Pueblo Chemical
Activity, Colorado, by $49 million.
======================
Assisting returned soldiers
======================
Sens. Lieberman (I-CT) & Boxer (D-CA) filed
amendment No. 2055 to assist service members in obtaining necessary services
immediately upon their return home after separation from the
military.
================
Status of detainees
================
Sens. Graham (R-SC) & Kyl (R-AZ) filed amendment
No. 2064 to delete Section 1023 in the bill that would require the Secretary of
Defense to determine the status of detainees who have been held by the
Department of Defense as unlawful enemy combatants for more than 2 years. The
committee-approved provision would establish requirements for the procedures to
be used by such tribunals.
==========
Hate crimes
==========
Sens. Kennedy (D-MA) & Smith (R-OR) filed
amendment No. 2067 to strengthen federal law to prevent, investigate and
prosecute hate crimes. The text is
identical to S. 1105, the Mathew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes
Prevention Act
===============
Gulf War illnesses
===============
Sens. Sanders (I-VT), Byrd (D-WV) and Feingold (D-WI)
filed amendment No. 2060 to authorize $30 million for Gulf War Illnesses
research.
================
Montgomery GI Bill
================
Sens. Lincoln (D-AR), Crapo, Durbin, Coleman, Brown,
Kerry, Leahy, Harkin, Casey, Snowe, Mikulski and Klobuchar filed amendments No.
2072 & 2074 on the Montgomery GI Bill that are provisions of S.644. The first amendment provides operational
reservists with 10-year portability of their Chapter 1607 (REAP) MGIB
benefits. This year, the recently passed
House FY2008 defense authorization bill (H.R.1585) includes Sense of Congress
language in support of this policy. The
second amendment moves Chapter 1606 (Standard Reserve) and Chapter 1607 (REAP)
benefits from Title 10 to Title 38. This
provision was included in HR 1585 (Sec. 525) and the Senate language is
identical.
==========================
Personality disorder discharges
==========================
Sens. Obama (D-IL), Bond, Boxer, McCaskill and Murray
filed amendment No. 2086 to place a temporary moratorium on the use of
personality disorder discharges for those service members who have served in a
combat zone.
==========================
Prosecution of enemy combatants
==========================
Sen. Dodd (D-CT) filed as amendment No. 2083 his
previously introduced bill S.576, which has 12 co-sponsors, to mend federal
provisions concerning the prosecution of unlawful enemy combatants by
U.S. military
commissions.
==========
Contracting
==========
Sens. Obama (D-IL) & Whitehouse (D-RI) filed
amendments No. 2084 & 2104 to increase transparency and accountability in
military and security contracting.
============
Base closures
============
Sen. Brown (D-OH) filed amendment No. 2096 to require
a comprehensive accounting of the funding required to ensure that the plan for
implementing the final recommendations of the 2005 Defense Base Closure and
Realignment Commission remains on schedule.
=============================
Cost of rebuilding American
forces
=============================
Sen. Brown (D-OH) filed amendment No. 2097 requiring
a report on rebuilding U.S. Armed Forces to pre-Iraq war readiness
levels.
======================
Cost of post-war transition
======================
Sen. Brown (D-OH) filed amendment No. 2098 requiring
a report on the cost of transitioning troops into military and civilian life in
the U.S. after the Iraq
War.
=============
Mass atrocities
=============
Sens. Cardin (D-MD), Biden and Feingold filed
amendment No. 2103 requiring a report assessing the U.S. capability to provide
training and advice to the command of an international intervention force that
seeks to prevent mass atrocities.
==============
Nuclear terrorism
==============
Sens. Clinton (D-NY) & Whitehouse (D-RI) filed
amendments No. 2109 and No. 2222, a
version of her bill S. 1705, the Nuclear Terrorism Prevention Act, to establish
the position of “Senior Advisor to the President for the Prevention of Nuclear
Terrorism” and urging the President to make the prevention of a nuclear
terrorist attack on the United States of the highest priority and to accelerate
programs, requesting additional funding as appropriate, to prevent nuclear
terrorism.
=============================
Cost of replacing nuclear
warheads
=============================
Sen. Bingaman (D-NM) filed amendment No. 2118 which
would add to the nuclear posture review included in the Defense Authorization
bill requirements that any plan for replacing or modifying the
U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile
include an assessment of the estimated cost and anticipated schedule for
replacing warheads.
==============
Guantanamo Bay
==============
Sens. Feinstein (D-CA), Harkin, Dodd, Clinton, Brown,
Bingaman, Kennedy, Whitehouse and Obama filed amendment No. 2125 to close the
Guantanamo Bay detention center within a year.
========================
Oversight of military
contractors
========================
Sens. Carper (D-DE) & McCaskill (D-MO) filed
amendment No. 2123 to beef up oversight of military contractors. The amendment requires training on
contingency contracting for personnel outside the defense acquisition
workforce.
==================================
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan
==================================
Sens. Lautenberg (D-NJ), Dodd, Coburn and Hagel filed
amendment No. 2150 to create a Special Inspector General for Afghanistan
Reconstruction.
==========
Immigration
==========
Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) filed a series of amendments --
No. 2140, 2041, 2042 and 2043 -- dealing with such immigration issues as
international commuters, landowners liability, employment based visas and the
“Secure Border Crossing Card Entry Act."
=========================
Treatment of ethnic Americans
=========================
Sens. Feingold (D-WI), Grassley and Lieberman filed
amendment No. 2151 to commission a study of the treatment of ethnic Americans
during World War II, including Italian Americans, German Americans, Jewish
refugees and European Latin Americans.
============
National Guard
============
Sens. Bond (R-MO) & Leahy (D-VT) filed amendment
No. 2165 to expand the power and authority of the National
Guard.
============
Iran sanctions
============
Sen. Smith (R-OR) filed amendment No. 2166 to expand
and strengthen sanctions on Iran and countries that deal with
Iran.
===============
Inspector general
===============
Sens. Whitehouse (D-RI), Durbin, Mikulski, Feingold
and Feinstein filed amendment No. 2169 to require Congress to be notified if an
inspector general is denied information.
==============
Nuclear workers
==============
Sen. Reid (D-NV) filed amendment No. 2170 to include
nuclear program workers in the occupational illness compensation
program.
==========
9/11 attacks
==========
Sens. Wyden (D-OR), Bond and Rockefeller filed
amendment No. 2183 to require that an executive summary of the report on Central
Intelligence Agency accountability regarding the terrorist attacks of September
11, 2001 be made public.
=========================
Assistance for peace operations
=========================
Sen. Levin (D-MI) filed amendment No. 2192 to provide
up to $200 million annually for assistance to countries deploying soldiers for
peace operations under the Global Peace Operations Initiative
(GPOI).
=======
Earmarks
=======
Sen. Coburn (R-OK) filed amendment No. 2194
prohibiting the use of earmarks to award no-bid contracts and non-competitive
grants.
Sen. Coburn filed other amendments to eliminate
specific earmarks in the bill.
===============
Wartime contracting
===============
Sens. Webb (D-VA), McCaskill, Klobuchar, Brown,
Casey, Tester, Cardin, Whitehouse, and Sanders filed amendment No. 2206 to
establish a "Commission on Wartime Contracting" to study wartime contracting in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
====================
Protecting
space assets
====================
Sen. Kyl
(R-AZ) filed amendment No. 2223 saying that it is the policy of the
United
States to protect its military and civilian
satellites and to research all potential means of doing
so.
============
Space test
bed
============
Sen. Kyl
(R-AZ) filed amendment No. 2225 to restore the Administration’s $10 million
request for the Ballistic Missile Defense Space Test bed that the Senate Armed
Services Committee had cut.
======================
State
sponsors of terrorism
======================
Sen. Kyl
(R-AZ) filed amendment No. 2226 requiring a report on business activities
carried out with state sponsors of terrorism.
=====
Egypt
=====
Sen. Kyl
(R-AZ) filed amendment No. 2227
withholding $200 million for Egypt until it implements a new
judicial authority law that protects the independence of the
judiciary.
=======
Thailand
=======
Sens.
Warner (R-VA) and Webb (D-VA) filed amendment No. 2230 to limit new military
assistance to Thailand until it restores democratic
rule.
================
Concurrent
Receipt
================
Sens. Reid
(D-NV) and Snowe (R-ME) filed amendments No. 2235 and No. 2236 to permit retired
military to receive both retirement benefits and compensation for
service-connected disabilities (Concurrent Receipt).
================
Immigration reform
================
Sen.
Durbin (D-IL) filed amendments No. 2237 to provide educational benefits to
children of immigrants and No. 2238 on immigration fraud
protection.
=========
Extradition
===========
Sen.
Specter (R-PA) filed amendment No. 2239 prohibiting expulsion, return, or
extradition of persons by the United States to countries engaging
in torture.
=============
Contracting out
=============
Sens.
Dorgan (D-ND) and Wyden (D-OR) filed amendment No. 2248 to prohibit the head of
an agency from entering into a contract for the performance of any inherently
governmental function and to avoid conflicts of
interest.
AMENDMENTS
ALREADY CONSIDERED
================================
Deployment of American troops in Iraq
================================
The vote on cloture on the Webb (D-VA) & Hagel
(R-NE) (with a total of 29 co-sponsors) amendment No. 2012 that would have
mandated minimum periods for soldiers between deployments to Iraq was 56 – 41,
with 60 votes needed (July 11). Soldiers would have to be home for at least as
long as they were deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan before being sent back, and no
reserve soldier could be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan if he or she had been there
within the preceding three years. The
President could waive this limitation if he certifies to Congress that there is
“an operational emergency posing a threat to vital national security
interests.”
===
Iran
===
Lieberman (I-CT), McCain, Kyl, Graham, Coleman,
Collins, Sessions, Levin, Salazar and Craig modified amendment No. 2073 accusing
Iran of assisting forces in Iraq that are contributing to the destabilization of
Iraq and the murders of Americans, demanding that Iran cease those activities
and requiring the Administration to report to Congress concerning Iran's
activities there and responses to those activities was adopted 97 – 0 (July
11). The amendment closed with the
sentence: “Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize or otherwise
speak to the use of Armed Forces against Iran.”
================================
Deployment of American troops in Iraq
================================
Hagel (R-NE), Levin, Snowe, Webb and Reid amendment
No. 2032 barring Army soldiers from serving for more than 12 consecutive months
in Iraq and Marines from serving for more than seven months won a 52 – 45
majority, but 60 votes were required for adoption (July 11). Many Army combat tours were extended from 12
months to 15 months earlier this year.
The President was permitted to waive this provision "in time of national
emergency."
================================
Deployment of American troops in Iraq
================================
Graham (R-SC), McCain & Kyl amendment No. 2978 to
express the sense of Congress on length of time between deployments for members
of the Armed Forces was rejected 41 – 55 (July 11).
===================================
Protection against Iranian ballistic
missiles
===================================
Sessions (R-AL) modified amendment No. 2024 stating that it should be the policy of the
United States to develop and deploy, as soon as technologically possible, an
effective defense against “the threat from Iran” was adopted 90 – 5 (July
12).
=====================================
Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act
=====================================
Levin (D-MI) & McCain (R-AZ) amendment No. 2019,
a version of S. 1606 introduced with 39 co-sponsors, to provide for the
establishment of a comprehensive policy on the care and management of wounded
soldiers in order to facilitate and enhance their care, rehabilitation, physical
evaluation, transition from care by the Department of Defense to care by the
Department of Veterans Affairs, and transition from military service to civilian
life, was adopted 94 – 0 (July 12).
======
Osama
======
Dorgan (D-ND), Conrad (D-ND) and Salazar (D-CO)
amendment No. 2135 authorizing a reward of $50,000,000 for the capture, or
information leading to the capture, of Osama bin Laden was approved 87 – 1 (July
13).
Current Legislation on Iraq
UPPORT
