Free Republic

The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act created the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting rule to ostensibly target money laundering. Beginning January 1, 2024, the Act mandates U.S. companies, regardless of size, to register their beneficial and controlling owners with the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). FinCEN claims the corporate ownership database will be used exclusively to identify anonymous shell companies involved in money laundering and terrorist activities. Once again, like the Patriot Act, it grants surveillance powers violating the Constitution. There is no provision for judicial oversight to protect individual rights as if that ever mattered. Reporting requirements apply...

The US Congress has passed legislation allowing the country to sell Virginia class submarines to Australia under the Aukus security pact. Sweeping legislation covering a wide range of military priorities including Aukus passed the US House of Representatives on Thursday Washington time, a day after it cleared the Senate. The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, said Australians could “have a sense of confidence about this multi-decade arrangement actually coming to pass” because of the strong bipartisan votes in the US Congress. “We are on the precipice of historic reform that will transform our ability to effectively deter, innovate, and operate...

OK I went to his twitter page to see if he's explained his vote on FISA inclusion in the NDAA and not a peep. It's full of interviews etc. of him being against Free Speech on campuses What is he doing? He might not like certain speech but as a Member of Congress it's not up to him to decide. He's losing the plot with all this. John Cornyn is taking heat on the NDAA (rightly). I still haven't heard anything from Cruz. Perhaps someone from TX can find out what the situation is. He can't hide from this forever!

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, in a continuation of his efforts to protect Americans’ civil liberties and push for reform to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) forced a Senate vote to remove reauthorization of FISA from the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). A bipartisan group of 34 senators joined Dr. Paul in voting to remove the reauthorization of FISA from the annual NDAA. The final vote tally was 35-65, six votes short of ending domestic spying authority. Below are excerpts from Dr. Paul’s prepared remarks he delivered ahead of the vote:...

Congress has approved legislation that would prevent any president from withdrawing the United States from NATO without approval from the Senate or an Act of Congress. The measure, spearheaded by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), was included in the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which passed out of the House on Thursday and is expected to be signed by President Biden. The provision underscores Congress’s commitment to the NATO alliance that was a target of former President Trump’s ire during his term in office. The alliance has taken on revitalized importance under Biden, especially since Russia’s full-scale...

The House, in a decisive vote Thursday, passed the annual defense authorization bill, delivering a bipartisan rebuke to its most conservative members who had sought to infuse the legislation with a wishlist of provisions targeting Pentagon policies on abortion, diversity and LGBTQ+ rights. The $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was approved by a vote of 310-118, having passed the Senate by an overwhelming margin Wednesday night. It proceeds next to the White House, where President Biden is expected to sign the legislation into law.

In a last-minute rush to sanction spending before the end of the year, the Senate enacted a $886 billion defense spending proposal Wednesday, sponsored by President Joe Biden, that includes financing for Ukraine, yearly pay hikes for personnel, and most controversially, a reauthorization of the the National Defense Authorization Act.. The NDAA funds Pentagon objectives such as training and equipment. The Act was approved by a bipartisan majority of 87-13 in the Senate. For the last 61 years in a row, Congress has advanced the must-pass defense budget measure. “At a time of huge trouble for global security, doing the...

@BasedMikeLee The Senate just voted to waive the point of order against the NDAA. 35 of us opposed the motion to waive. We needed only 41 to prevent this outcome, and to remove FISA 702 from the NDAA. This is not good. The House should #StopTheNDAA.

@JohnCornyn One of the biggest responsibilities Congress has each year is to provide for the common defense, ensuring our military has the tools & resources it needs to keep Americans safe. Today, the Senate passed the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

They're suspending the rules and need 2/3rds to pass the FISA attachment to the NDAA. What are the odds? I bet they will vote this through almost unanimously! Sad. In any case, you could pressure your Rep. today or tomorrow...

@BasedMikeLee Tomorrow the Senate has the chance to remove FISA 702 from the NDAA. The Senate rules can make this happen if just 41 senators agree. FISA should be reviewed on its own merits—not the NDAA’s. If you agree, please share & tell your senators to remove FISA from the NDAA!

A compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) negotiators in the House and Senate agreed on does not include a number of controversial amendments criticized as attacks against the LGBTQ community. House Republicans, who passed the amendments in July, agreed to drop them from the annual Defense policy bill, according to an updated draft released Thursday. The House-passed NDAA had sought to block the Defense Department (DOD) from funding drag shows and gender-affirming health care for transgender service members and dependents. The legislation also sought to prohibit funding for the Department of Defense Education Activity — a federal...

Speaker Mike Johson (R-LA) backtracked and caved to the deep state and Democrats, moving to slip a deep state authorization into the defense bill. Reports say that congressional leaders, including Johnson, agreed to put an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill would extend Section 702 until April 19. This frustrated many conservatives, including those who were supposed to be instrumental in crafting the final texts for the NDAA. Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) released a video statement after she said that leadership asked conferees, which includes...

House and Senate conservatives on Wednesday sounded the alarm on a potential move by congressional leadership to extend a deep state surveillance law in a defense bill. “Reauthorization of FISA can’t be hooked to anything. The federal GOV has spied on Americans [who] decided to go to Church or you went to a school board meeting. This needs to end. Reauthorization needs to stand on its own, and have significant reform,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (R-PA) said during a press conference with the House Freedom Caucus and Senate conservatives. The conservatives held their press conference as congressional leaders...

Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) office has refused to confirm Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) claim that there will be no reauthorization, temporary or otherwise, of a deep state surveillance tool in the National Defense Authorization Act. Breitbart News, as well as Wired, reported that Speaker Johnson and Democrat leaders are considering slipping a reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a defense bill that has little to do with government surveillance.

More effective and sustainable firearms are on the horizon — but future technology is now banned before it can even come to fruition. For 63 years, the United States Congress has drafted and passed the National Defense Authorization Act. The purpose of this act: to pass the country’s defense budget for the following fiscal year. While Americans are focused on inflation and other trending topics, this bill passes every year under the radar. It’s Congress’s way of slowly chipping away at the constitutional rights of millions of Americans without any pushback — mainly because people don’t know about it. However,...

Who are they protecting here? What are they hiding? That's about all one can ask now that Democrats have quashed two measures to set up an independent Ukraine aid auditing office under one audit umbrella. According to Fox News, the plan was this: Amid the Democratic-controlled Senate’s ongoing National Defense Spending Authorization Act (NDAA) talks, GOP Sens. Josh Hawley, James Risch, Roger Wicker and John Kennedy drafted an amendment to create an exclusive Ukraine spending oversight office, led by the president’s choice. ...and according to the New York Post, it got this: Senate Democrats banded together Wednesday night to oppose...

Senate Democrats are attempting to sneak an authorization of an outdated gun control law into the "must pass" National Defense Authorization Act, also known as the US Military budget. The law in question is the 1988 Undetectable Firearms Act, which was championed by groups like Handgun Control Inc, now known as the Brady Campaign. The Act set the stage for the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban. Gun Owners of America is working in Congress today to ensure that history does not repeat itself with either of these attacks on your rights. The Act itself bans any firearm that cannot be detected...

The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) has unanimously approved legislation containing language that appears intended to dig out any UAP-associated technology that is or ever was controlled by the federal government. The new UAP/UFO provisions are being publicly reported in detail in this article for the first time anywhere. The new UAP provisions are part of the Fiscal Year 2024 Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA, S. 2103), which was approved unanimously by the Senate Intelligence committee in a closed-door session on June 14. On June 21 I reported on the committee's action, but the text of the UAP amendment...

A soldier with broken time as a result of his love of bourbon whiskey could soon become the third man to hold the rank of General of the Armies. The proposed fiscal 2023 James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act would let President Joe Biden posthumously promote Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who retired with the rank of General of the Army, to General of the Armies -- a rank only held by Gen. George Washington, posthumously, and Gen. John "Black Jack" Pershing of World War I fame. Grant became the country's first four-star general in 1866. For the past year,...