Posted on 04/21/2008 9:58:35 AM PDT by mdittmar
Waxman today wrote a letter to David Chu, an under secretary at the Department of Defense, demanding to know why these waivers had been granted to felons convicted of sexual assault and terrorist threats. The full text of his letter is below:
The Honorable David Chu
Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
U.S. Department of Defense
4000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-4000
Dear Dr. Chu:
Thank you for responding to the Committee's request for information regarding military personnel waivers issued to U.S. service members. The data you provided the Committee shows that there was a rapid rise in 2007 in the number of waivers the Army and Marine Corps granted to recruits convicted of serious felonies, such as aggravated assault and burglary. Some recruits were even granted waivers for felony convictions involving sexual assault and terrorist threats. I am writing to seek more information about these trends and their implications for military readiness.
In response to our October 18, 2007, request, you provided the Committee with statistics regarding personnel waivers granted in 2006 and 2007 to enlistees who had been convicted of felonies. Your office informed Committee staff that due to poor recordkeeping and maintenance, you are unable to provide similar information for prior years or regarding serious misdemeanors. According to the data provided to the Committee, the Army and Marine Corps significantly increased the number of waivers they granted for enlistees with felony convictions from 2006 to 2007. Army waivers increased from 249 waivers in 2006 to 511 waivers in 2007, while Marine Corps waivers increased from 208 waivers in 2006 to 350 waivers in 2007. Both branches increased the number of waivers they granted for almost every type of felony offense.
In addition, the new data provided to the Committee shows for the first time some of the offenses for which the Army and Marine Corps have granted waivers. In 2007, the Army and Marine Corps granted 87 waivers to enlistees who had been convicted of "[a]ggravated assault, assault with a dangerous weapon, [or] maiming," 248 waivers to enlistees who had been convicted of "[b]urglary," and 130 waivers to enlistees who had been convicted of "[n]arcotics or habit-forming drugs; wrongful possession or use (marijuana not included)." The Army and Marine Corps also granted small numbers of waivers for the crimes of "[r]ape, sexual abuse, sexual assault, criminal sexual abuse, incest, or other sex crimes," "[i]ndecent acts or liberties with a child, molestation," and "[t]errorist threats including bomb threats."
I understand that there can be valid reasons for personnel waivers and recognize the importance of providing opportunities to individuals who have served their sentences and rehabilitated themselves. At the same time, concerns have been raised that the significant increase in the recruitment of persons with criminal records is a result of the strain put on the military by the Iraq war and may be undermining military readiness.
To help the Committee understand these issues, I request that you provide the Committee with the following documents:
1. Any documents created by the Department of Defense, Army, Navy, or Marine Corps that explain, discuss, or relate to the increased number of personnel conduct waivers since 2001;
2. Any documents created by the Department of Defense, Army, Navy, or Marine Corps that explain, discuss, or relate to the lowering of standards for enlistees and whether this has any relation to meeting recruitment goals;
3. Updated 2007 and 2008 data on the Distribution of Conduct Waivers by Offense Type for the Department of Defense, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force;
4. Any data, studies, or analysis done by the Department of Defense, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Air Force on the impact of increasing the number of personnel conduct waivers or on the performance of those enlistees for whom waivers were granted; and
5. Documents describing any programs that the Department of Defense, Army, Navy, or Marine Corps have in place to provide additional training, counseling, or oversight to those enlistees for whom waivers were granted.
Please provide these documents and information to the Committee as soon as possible but in no case later than May 20, 2008. In addition to the above documents and information, we also request that you provide a briefing on these issues on or before May 22, 2008.
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the principal oversight committee in the House of Representatives and has broad oversight jurisdiction as set forth in House Rule X. An attachment to this letter provides additional information about how to respond to the Committee's request.
If you have any questions regarding this request, please contact Susanne Sachsman of the Committee staff at (202) 225-5420.
Sincerely,
Henry A. Waxman
Chairman
Henry Nostrlitis is a felon. My father served with him in the military and said he was a$$clown then. He must of resented it when Sgt. Oliveras who was the drill instructor made ole Henry clean the latrine with a toothbrush.
Thanks for your corrections.
What will the headline be?
More convicted felons allowed to enlist in Army, Marines
By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press Writer
The title of the article is a bit exaggerated. He just wants to know if waivers are being given to ciminals. As a member of the military, I am not sure that people with felonies should be allowed in the military. Does anyone realize that if you retire and receive a felony, your retirement check is immediately stopped? Is this really something to question just because we don’t like Waxman???
just want to cause controversy
That can be fun. I like to do this as well but not typically on this subject. lol.
Being a civilian without military experience, having people with serious felony convictions against them in the armed forces doesn’t seem like a good idea. At least on the face of it. I’ll accept the judgement of someone with experience, though.
Hey, poo poo for brains waxman!
Those servicemen are putting their lives on the line for us.
What about your friends who have been convicted of crimes? How about you preparing a report on them ans sending it to us?
The PARTIAL list of your buds...
REP. MARIO BIAGGI (D-NY): In 1988 he was convicted of obstructing justice, tax evasion, conspiracy, extortion, and accepting bribes.
CORRINNE BROWN (D-FL): Failed to pay unemployment taxes to the state of Florida; sued by several airlines for unpaid bills and falsified travel reports; failed to report sale of her Tallahassee travel agency; improperly reported the sale of her Gainesville travel agency; sued by Whirlpool Corp. for unpaid bills; pursued by the IRS for $14,228 in unpaid taxes; investigations by the House Ethics Committee for possible acceptance of bribes; refused to file reports in the House about potential conflicts of interest while overseeing airlines she dealt with through her travel agencies; charged with money laundering.
REP. ALBERT BUSTAMANTE (D-TX): Convicted in 1993 of racketeering and accepting an illegal gratuity.
TONY COELHO (D-CA): Currently under investigation for fraud while serving as U.S. Commissioner General of Expo ‘98 in Lisbon, Portugal.* He was Al Gore’s primary presidential campaign manager until he resigned citing health reasons.
REP. JERRY COSTELLO (D-IL):
REP. WALTER FAUNTROY (D-DC): Financial disclosure misdemeanor (1995).
REP. BARNEY FRANK (D-MA): Accessory to a male prostitute who ran a whorehouse in their Washington townhouse.
STATE REP. ALCEE L. HASTINGS (D-FL): From the 1998 Almanac of American Politics: “He was impeached by the House of Representatives by a vote of 426-3 in 1988 and convicted and removed from office by the Senate by a vote of 69-26. The impeachment arose from allegations that Hastings conspired with a friend to accept $150,000 for giving two convicted swindlers a break in sentencing. Hastings was acquitted in a criminal trial in 1983, but the friend was convicted. In the House, the case for impeachment was made by John Conyers, senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Removed from the bench, Hastings was unapologetic.”
REP. CARROL HUBBARD (D-KY): Convicted in 1994 of misappropriation of funds.
REP. GERALD KLECZKA (D-WI): Convicted of DUI in 1987; arrested for DUI in 1990 and 1995.
REP. JOE KOLTER (D-PA): Fraud and conspiracy (1996).
REP. NICK MAVROULES (D-MA): In 1991 pleaded guilty to charges of bribery and tax evasion.
REP. EDWARD MEZVINSKY (D-IA): Indicted in March of 2001 on federal fraud charges. Claimed that he developed mental problems after using a malaria drug called Lariam. “Clearly, the responsibility lies with the manufacturers,” claimed Mezvinsky’s lawyer, Michael Barrett.*
REP. JAMES MORAN (D-VA): Charged with spousal abuse, and assault and battery. A regular instigator of bar fights while mayor of Alexandria, VA, his position made him immune to arrest. Once said he thought about becoming a boxer because “I like to hit people.”
REP. AUSTIN J. MURPHY (D-PA): Vote fraud, including forgery, conspiracy, and tampering with federal records (1999).*
REP. MARY ROSE OAKAR (D-OH): Charged with seven federal felonies related to financial-disclosure irregularities (1998).
REP. CARL PERKINS (D-KY): In 1994 pleaded guilty to filing a false financial-disclosure statement, conspiracy to file false statements with the Federal Election Commission, and bank fraud. Sentenced in March of 1995.
REP. MEL REYNOLDS (D-IL): In 1995 was convicted of having sex with a minor and obstructing justice.
CHARLIE ROSE (D-NC): Financial disclosure irregularities (1994).
REP. DAN ROSTENKOWSKI (D-IL): Illegally converted official funds to his personal use and mail fraud; accused in 1996 of embezzling $700,000 from the federal government, he was charged with 13 of the original 17 counts against him. Went to prison after serving in Congress; now back in Washington working as a lobbyist.
REP. LARRY SMITH (D-FL): In 1993 was convicted of income tax evasion and campaign-reporting violations.
REP. JIM TRAFICANT (D-OH): Indicted on 5/4/01 by a Cleveland, OH federal grand jury for bribery, tax evasion, racketeering, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. Found guilty of all charges in April 2002.
REP. WALTER TUCKER (D-CA): Federal extortion charges; convicted of accepting $30,000 worth of bribes while a Congressman, and sentenced to 27 months in the federal penitentiary.
CHARLES WILSON (D-TX): In 1995 was forced to pay a $90,000 fine to the Federal Election Commission.
Number of members of Congress who escaped tickets and/or arrest from a variety of driving offenses ranging from speeding to DUI in 1999 due to Congressional immunity: 217
Number of members of Congress who were released after being pulled over for drunken driving in 1998 by claiming Congressional immunity: 84
...and there are more waiting in the wings. Perhaps you, maybe?
I don’t know if the system has changed since 1982 when my neighbor’s kid went in, but all felonies had to have a letter of recommendation their U.S. Representative in order to be submitted to MEPS for further review.
Being that we are 50 States with more than 3000 Counties, one needs to recognize that the law, and it’s penalties, are not the same or evenly applied throughout the Country.
What might be a Felony is Georgia, for example, might only be a misdemeanor in California. And vice versa. A good example would be the Genarlow Wilson case. Convicted of a felony and sent to prison for having consensual sex with a minor (15), and he was also a minor (17) at the time. And there are many, many examples of this.
(the real kicker in the Wilson case is he only had oral sex with her, if he had intercourse, it would have been a misdemeanor. Instead he was convicted of aggravated child molestation and that carried a mandatory sentence OF TEN YEARS.)
I have no problem with allowing convicts to help protect us, as long as they have been vetted.
A plea bargain (also plea agreement, plea deal or copping a plea) is an agreement in a criminal case in which a prosecutor and a defendant arrange to settle the case against the defendant. The defendant agrees to plead guilty (and often allocute) or no contest and in some cases to also provide testimony against another person in exchange for some agreement from the prosecutor as to the punishment. A plea bargain can also include the prosecutor agreeing to charge a lesser crime (also called reducing the charges), and dismissing some of the charges against the defendant.
I might also add that Waxman used his power and office to ignore, block, obfuscate, thwart, malign, and quash efforts by the House of Representatives to hold Bill Clinton accountable for his crimes.............Waxman is a socialist and an enemy of the state............
What didn’t take long?
Folks I dislike Waxman as much as anyone in here. That being said who’s is Commander in Chief of the Armed Foreces and who appoints the Secretary of Defense who has the authority to stop the abuses of such things as NCIS and the wholesale Court Martials? Bush is allowing this to be a PC war and has not ordered either Sec of DEF to act on this. I’ll give Waxman my contempt for what he said but CIC needs to start acting like such instead of Lyndon Baines Johnson.
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