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Two 2016 presidential competitors have joined forces to get a ban on the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens included in an annual defense policy bill. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), both of whom are running for president, have joined up with other senators to introduce an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), currently before the Senate, that would ban indefinite detention of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, without being charged or given a trial, unless authorized by Congress.Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) also put their names on the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) applauds the passage of the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) on Thursday after a week of debate and consideration by both parties. Sen. Cruz introduced or cosponsored more than a dozen amendments that were successfully adopted by the committee. “Congress’ first priority is to provide for the national defense and ensure our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have everything they need to defend our freedom,” said Sen. Cruz. “I am grateful for the committee’s support for my amendments, including measures that will ensure...

A bipartisan coalition came close Thursday to protecting immigration-related language in the fiscal 2016 National Defense Authorization Act — but not close enough. A 221-202 vote on an amendment, offered by Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., stripped a provision in the underlying bill encouraging the Pentagon to study options for enlisting undocumented immigrants into the military in exchange for a pathway to legal status. All 182 Democrats voted “no,” joined by 20 Republicans. Passage of the Brooks amendment will prompt a sigh of relief from GOP leaders, who feared its failure would put the entire NDAA bill in jeopardy — at...

NDAA CUTS MILITARY PERSONNEL to ADD ILLEGALS Seeking Amnesty May 14, 2015 By Colleen Conley The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 is currently being bandied about by Congress, with potentially dire circumstances facing our armed services. The NDAA sets the legal framework within which the defense budget operates and informs the Department of Defense what it must or cannot do in various areas. The current debate swirling around the FY16 NDAA demonstrates the inability of Congress to grasp the primary issues which determine funding of the military; the Budget Control Act of 2011 and entitlement spending. In...

Former U.S. Congressman and Lt. Col. Allen West expressed his opposition to a potential move by Pres. Obama to use military enlistment as a vehicle to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. In a post on his website on Thursday, Lt. Col. West said, "the purpose of serving our nation should not be about earning citizenship. It should be about being a guardian of the Republic." Lt. Col. West added that he'll speak out against any Member of Congress who supports a policy to grant a military amnesty.

Rush Limbaugh praised Marco Rubio on Thursday, as noted by Rubio adviser Alex Conant… Conant is La Raza’s point man in Rubio’s office. In 2013, in defense of Rubio’s plan to flood the United States with illegal aliens, Conant wrote…

For the uninitiated, the Oath Keepers is a group of law enforcement officials and military types whose goal is to uphold the Constitution, unless the government starts getting unconstitutionally tyrannical in their business. With that in mind, here’s one of them calling for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to be tried and hung to death. Via Right Wing Watch comes a video of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes speaking to a conservative gathering in Arizona. In the middle of his speech, reminding the audience of how Ron Paul delegates were shut out of the 2008 GOP convention he blasted the former...

The House Armed Services Committee approved an amendment, offered by Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), on Wednesday to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2016 that affirms Pres. Obama's unconstitutional 2012 DACA amnesty. The amendment was narrowly approved 33-to-30 by the Committee, mostly along party lines, but with enough GOP support to pass. The amendment expressed that it's the sense of Congress to encourage the Secretary of Defense to waive military enlistment requirements for illegal aliens who receive Pres. Obama's DACA amnesty. DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) grants amnesty and work permits to illegal aliens who would have qualified for...

Since I’ve been in Congress, I’ve been frustrated at times. On occasion, I’ve been pretty well furious. This week, if I’m honest, it was a feeling of being deeply, deeply disappointed with this institution and the way it seems to work these days. To make a very long story very short, the United States Congress has, for the last fifty-three years straight, passed a National Defense Authorization Act to fund each and every line item for our military. No matter how dysfunctional the Congress has gotten at times during those fifty-three years, we’ve always managed to recognize the solemn responsibility...

Some lawmakers negotiated the inclusion of land grab provisions in the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which will expand the already massive federal real state holdings. Critics consider those provisions pork because they have nothing to do with defense or national security. The NDAA provides guidance for U.S. defense spending and policy. It is considered a “must-pass” legislation. ... When asked to comment on the potential land grab, Catherine Frazier, a spokeswoman for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), told Breitbart News, "Controversial legislation that has not been debated and is completely irrelevant to our national defense should have no part...

The House has finally approved recognition to the victims of the 2009 Islamic terror attack at Ft. Hood. The Senate may pass the legislation this week. However, lingering questions remain. In June 2009 Islamic terrorist Major Nadal Hassan, a member of the U.S. military who had been promoted despite poor performance reviews and troubling sympathies to Islamic terrorism, opened fire on his fellow service members at Ft. Hood, Texas. Islamic terrorist Hassan killed 13 soldiers and wounded 32 others while screaming “Allahu Akbar! (God is Great!)” Survivors of the attack, wounded and non-wounded, along with a majority of the American...

December 4, 2014 ‘Long Overdue’: Purple Hearts for Fort Hood, Little Rock Victims Rolled Into Defense Funding Bill The White House threatened to veto such language before, but is faced this time with a bipartisan, bicameral compromise. WASHINGTON — In May 2012, President Obama threatened to veto the National Defense Authorization Act because, among other reasons, the bill would have awarded Purple Hearts to the victims of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting and Little Rock recruitment office shooting.“The Administration objects to section 552, which would grant Purple Hearts to the victims of the shooting incidents in Fort Hood, Texas, and...

Congress has returned from the mid-term elections and members are hammering out the details of the National Defense Authorization Act. NDAA, which has passed for more than 50 years consecutively, provides policy guidance for the U.S. defense budget. The importance of the NDAA to the defense budgeting process and its traditional status as a “must-pass” piece of legislation makes it an inviting target for pet projects and wasteful spending. Unfortunately, as this year’s lame duck session winds down, some lawmakers are trying to end-run the normal legislative process in a rushed, closed-door approach. This presents an opportunity not only to...

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his aides swear the Syrian “rebels” he was pictured last year with weren’t ISIS members or supporters, and the mainstream media is by and large buying the 2008 GOP presidential nominee’s story. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has endured brutal criticism—media fact checkers, reporters, and political figures have shredded him—for questioning just who McCain posed with. But a closer look at the situation tells perhaps a different story than McCain’s office or the mainstream media have pushed. The criticism of McCain centers around how the Arizona senator met with Syrian rebel leaders in May 2013 when...

This morning on WMALs “Morning on the Mall” radio show with hosts Brian and Larry I was asked a simple question relating to the Taliban prisoner release and impeachment of the president. I responded yes that in this current case, the U.S. House of Representatives should file articles of impeachment against Barack Hussein Obama.

President Obama’s record of lawlessness is prodigious. There is the assumption of a power to rule by presidential decree — unilaterally amending ObamaCare provisions, immigration statutes, and other enactments in flagrant disregard of Congress’s constitutional power to write the laws. There is rampant fraud on the American people — think: “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan, period,” just for a start. In the Benghazi massacre, we see the arc of administration malfeasance: In the absence of congressional authorization, the president instigated an unprovoked and ultimately disastrous war in Libya, empowering virulently anti-American...

Republican Rep. David Valadao says he's not worried that Congress' failure to pass immigration legislation will hurt his prospects for re-election to a district in California's agricultural heartland. Same goes for GOP Rep. Jeff Denham, who represents a neighboring district in the state's San Joaquin Valley. Still, the California congressmen are making sure voters know they support an immigration overhaul. They're aware that Democrats will try to turn the congressional gridlock into an advantage during this year's midterm elections. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $300,000 on television ads in Valadao's district, noting that he is the son of immigrants.

Californians are being let down by the failed policies from Washington. Folks there are more concerned with scoring political points than solving problems. And I’m working every day to fix it. That means working across party lines on important issues like fixing our broken immigration system, expanding water storage and delivery. And standing up for our veterans and their families. It means working to stop the wasteful spending, stop the crushing tax hikes and giving job creators the certainty they need to grow their businesses and the economy.

Last year, Barack Obama picked former Acting Assistant Attorney General David Barron as his choice for a vacant seat on the First Circuit Court of Appeals. His brief time at the Justice Department, however, has opened Barron – and the Obama administration – up to some widespread, bipartisan criticism. According to reports, Barron drafted a memo defending the deadly drone strike against American terror suspect Anwar al-Awlaki. As a result, his nomination is now being held up amid demands for the release of the memo, which has reportedly been cited as justification for the assassination of other American citizens. The...

America’s founders, largely distrustful of centralized power, created several checks and balances into the U.S. Constitution to help ensure that one person, or one group of people, would not be able to unilaterally exert his or their will over the American citizenry. First, the federal government itself was divided into three separate and distinct branches–each holding the capability (and responsibility) to check the power of the other. Second, the Bill of Rights was made part of the Constitution for the protection of individual liberties. Third, the “free and independent states” of the nation retained their sovereignty and independence after the...