Bush to veto defense authorization bill.

Bush to veto defense authorization bill.

The White House announced today that President Bush intends to veto a major defense authorization bill, “citing concerns over language that it claims could endanger Iraqi assets held in U.S. banks“:

The President intends to veto H.R. 1585, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (”NDAA”). One provision in the bill - section 1083 - would significantly amend current law (the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act) in ways that would imperil Iraqi assets held in the United States, including reconstruction and central bank funds. If enacted, Section 1083 would permit plaintiffs’ lawyers immediately to freeze Iraqi funds and would expose Iraq to massive liability in lawsuits concerning the misdeeds of the Saddam Hussein regime.

The new democratic government of Iraq, during this crucial period of reconstruction, cannot afford to have its funds entangled in such lawsuits in the United States. Once in place, the restrictions on Iraq’s funds that could result from the bill could take months to lift, and thus Section 1083 cannot become law even for a short period of time.

The bill also contains a 3.5 percent military pay raise. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) have condemned Bush’s threat, saying Bush “should have raised its objections earlier” and is “bowing to the demands of the Iraqi government.” More on the legislation at link.

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/12/28/bush-to-veto-defense-authorization-bill/

:argh:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-1585

Highlights from Project Vote Smart


The following is Project Vote Smart's highlights for this bill, graciously made available by PVS:

# -Expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States should support a political settlement in Iraq that would create a loose federal system (Sec. 1537).

# -Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should officially designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran as a foreign terrorist organization and assign it to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (Sec. 1538{b}).

# -Reaffirms support for all men and women of the United States Armed Forces, strongly condemns any attacks on General David Petraeus and all members of the US Armed Forces and specifically condemns Moveon.org’s advertisement about General David Petraeus (Sec. 1079).

# -Establishes criteria to regulate private security contracts in areas of combat and require contractors to provide reports to the Department of Defense on operations and incidents (Sec. 871).

# -Requires the Secretary of Defense to submit to Congressional defense committees a report on the total requirement numbers, funding, transportation schedule, safety issues, and long term sustainment capabilities of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAP), and authorizes $23.60 billion for the procurement of 15,200 MRAP Vehicles (Secs. 1517, 1543).

# -Allows the U.S. Attorney General to assist law enforcement agencies in the criminal investigation or prosecution of crimes of violence that are “motivated by prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim” and sets a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison and a possible fine for hate crimes (Sec. 1023).

# -Allows the Secretary of State to authorize a reward of $50.00 million for the capture or death, or information leading to the capture or death, of Osama bin Laden (Sec. 1219).

# -Requires the Secretary of Defense to establish a process for assessing the cognitive functioning of members of the U.S. Armed Forces deployed outside the United States both prior to and after deployment (Sec. 1632).

# -Authorizes $15.00 million to be appropriated for the Army to conduct a program for Gulf War Illness Research (Sec. 214).

# -Authorizes $150.91 billion for appropriations for the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan

# -Authorizes $23.82 billion for Defense Department, armed forces, and veterans health services appropriations

# -Authorizes $142.88 billion for military operations and maintenance appropriations

# -Authorizes $109.35 billion for military personnel appropriations

# -Authorizes $109.27 billion for military procurement appropriations

we need to fundamentally change how we vote on bills. Like a max of 10 amendments or something.

Anyway - thanks for spelling it out for me (:7) and giving me the link again :blush:. Teaching me how to fish, as it were... :hi:

bush will be taken to the woodshed by the limbaugh crowd for not supporting the troops. Hey we can end social security and Medicare and send those funds to Iraq. Who in this country needs them? Just because its our money we have to nation build and spread conservative values around the globe.

When he vetoes that one, make the next one even tougher.

Repeat until he's out of office or the war ends.

Note: Given the Dems record of caves, I expect yet another "compromise" (favoring Bush) will be made and the poodle congress will tell us that they "wrenched concessions" from Bush.

And if the Iraqi government tugs his chain, George W. Bush will gladly sell the troops down the river.

Is it starting to sink in, Nancy and Harry? Have you been played for saps enough? You met Bush's timeline, his "demand" that the defense bill be passed before Christmas, and what did it get you? A bunch of grief from your own supporters for caving in, and now a veto from the man who demanded action. Was it worth pissing off your base? What are you going to do in January? Cave in again? Or try something different?

is what's happened, but next question is, do they really care? Not from where I'm sitting...