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(CNSNews.com) – The Senate passed the 2012 Defense spending bill Thursday on a 86-13 vote, funding the Defense Department through the end of the fiscal year. The House passed the bill Wednesday night on a 238-136 vote, splitting the Democratic caucus evenly 93-93. The bill did not contain a repeal of the prohibition on sodomy in the military that the original Senate-passed version had. That provision was stripped out during a House-Senate conference committee at the behest of House Armed Services Committee chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.). Earlier versions of the bill had earned a veto threat from President Obama over...

Even at this 11th hour –when all of our liberties and freedom are about to go down the drain –many people still don’t understand that the indefinite detention bill passed by Congress allows indefinite detention of Americans on American soil....Another sponsor of the bill –Senator Levin –has also repeatedly said that the bill applies to American citizens on American soil, citing the Supreme Court case of Hamdi which ruled that American citizens can be treated as enemy combatants: “The Supreme Court has recently ruled there is no bar to the United States holding one of its own citizens as an...

Well now we know, for those who have been holding out “hope” that Obama will veto the 1031 Indefinite Detainment Bill against holding U.S. Citizens without rights to a trial or lawyer or charges for the rest of their lives…. It was Obama who required the bill have the language of U.S. Citizens being held without rights in the bill! The only reason he would veto it, is because it does not give him the absolute power as he wants!...Here is Senator Levin on the floor of the Senate revealing it was Obama himself who Demanded U.S. Citizens be part...

Senate May Vote Today on Defense Bill With Pro-Abortion Language Washington, DC -- The Senate may vote as early today on the 2011 defense authorization bill that contains language turning military base hospitals into abortion facilities. The legislation contains the Burris amendment which would overturn longstanding pro-life law prohibiting the performance of abortions at taxpayer-funded military bases. http://LifeNews.com/nat-6916

Senate debate over repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy will have to wait until next year, Minority Leader Mitch McConnel predicted on Sunday. Appearing on NBC’s "Meet the Press," he noted that there are other controversial measures beyond allowing gays to serve openly in the military, including questions about abortions in military hospitals, embedded in the larger defense authorization bill. And he said such a massive bill typically takes two weeks for the Senate to advance, even when it’s not chock-full of thorny issues. “I don’t see how we can possibly finish the defense authorization bill, a two-week bill,...

When I heard that the Democrat leadership was playing politics by inserting the amnesty-granting DREAM Act into a bill ostensibly to fund our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, I hoped Republicans would block it. So you can only imagine how I felt when I learned that the Democrats decided they weren't being ideological enough in their partisan politics, and added a provision forcing the military to embrace homosexuality whether it hurt national security or not. What Democrats wanted to do was force Republicans to either vote for the bill, or be the side that "opposed funding our troops." And the...

Senate Democrats are angling to end the military's decades-old ban on allowing abortions in overseas military hospitals, thus thrusting the culture wars back onto the front burner after months of being drowned out by the nation's economic woes. Sen. Roland W. Burris ushered the proposal through the Senate Armed Services Committee in May, tacking it onto the Defense Authorization Act, which the Senate is slated to consider Tuesday. The Illinois Democrat's plan would require women to pay for abortions upfront and without government funds, but would allow doctors at military hospitals to perform the procedures if those conditions are met....

John McCain met recently with the children of illegal aliens to discuss the Dream Act, among other aspects of amnesty. McCain sounded very tough on illegal immigration during his recent primary campaign but now he has won and is a shoo-in for reelection in November. Harry Reid has tacked the Dream Act onto a defense bill which will be voted on before the election. What do you think, Arizona? How will McCain vote? Note that McCain explains in the beginning that there are other senators who do not support the Dream Act and that will make passage difficult. He promises...

There was a rare chance for some bipartisanship mixed with some sincere debate in Washington next week when a defense policy bill will be taken up by the Senate. This type of bill usually passes with plenty of support from both sides of the aisle but the inclusion of the repeal of the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy left open some uncertainty as that important and relative issue is to be debated and hopefully resolved. But just to make sure that chaos ensued and in a desperate attempt to put politics over doing his actual job, Senate Majority Leader...

Washington (CNN) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday he will add the DREAM Act, a controversial immigration measure, to a defense policy bill the Senate will take up next week. The decision means the defense bill, which often passes with bipartisan support, will be home to two major, thorny political issues – the other being the repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Reid called the DREAM Act "really important" and said it should be passed because it provides a path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants who go to college or serve in the military....

House Republicans are preparing to mount a vigorous defense of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy President Bill Clinton implemented in 1993. GOP lawmakers in the lower chamber are poised to vote en masse against the defense authorization bill if it includes an amendment to repeal the law barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U.S. military. Over the objections of some Republicans, Clinton issued his “Don’t ask, don’t tell” directive nearly 17 years ago. Since then, many Republicans have warmed to it — especially now that liberals want to eradicate it. A senior Republican aide on Tuesday...

Senate Republicans said Thursday that they would try to filibuster a massive Pentagon bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an unusual move that several acknowledged was an effort to delay President Obama's health-care legislation. Late into the night, Democrats emerged from a huddle confident that they would muster the 60 votes needed to thwart the GOP effort at blocking the military spending bill. An antiwar liberal said he would set aside his reservations and support choking off the filibuster to keep the chamber on a timeline of holding a final health-care vote before Christmas. The vote on...

But make no mistake, so are we. If a project doesn’t support our troops, we will not fund it. If a system doesn’t perform, we will terminate it. And if Congress sends me a defense bill loaded with that kind of waste, I will veto it. We will do right by our troops and taxpayers. We will build the 21st century military we need. President Barack Obama 8/17 Speech to VFW Many Veterans were upset at the President for canceling the F-22 fighter without having a back up until the next bomber will be ready. The POTUS promised that it...

HONOLULU (AP) _ The Army is planning for the possible layoff of more than 5,000 civilian workers in Hawaii. Spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks says the planning by the Army in the Pacific is beginning as a prudent step in case the current congressional impasse over military spending is not resolved. Shanks says the plan maintains the need to protect health and safety on military bases in Hawaii and elsewhere in the region. He says it would maintain necessary defenses while minimizing the impact on soldiers, civilians and their families. The Defense Department has said the furloughs and service cuts could...

Democrats vow to pass measure aiding 1 million youths WASHINGTON — The prospects for immediate Senate action on the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants, disappeared Wednesday amid Republican opposition.But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pledged that senators would vote on the the measure, which is strongly opposed by anti-illegal immigration groups, before the Senate finishes its work for the year in mid-November."All who care about this matter should know that we will move to proceed to this matter before we leave here," he said.Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., had sought...

Friends, this is not a do-it-if-you-have-time request. This is the most urgent kind of request for your action Friday — and again Monday.... In the middle of actions on Defense next week, the open-borders Senators are going to attempt to attach three proposals that would give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens and dramatically increase the importation of additional foreign labor for American jobs. Many of the Senators who helped us kill the Comprehensive Amnesty in June are indicating they are in favor of these preferences for illegal foreign workers and new foreign workers over American workers. We must keep...

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) -- in a showdown with Senate Republicans -- has vowed he will not bring a major defense policy bill to the chamber floor this week unless Senate negotiators add a federal court security bill and a controversial House anti-illegal-immigration measure, senior House leadership aides say. The last-minute confrontation is pitting the House's most powerful member against Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John W. Warner (R-Va.), who has said he will not add extraneous measures to the annual defense authorization bill unless they can garner unanimous support from Democrats and Republicans alike. House leadership aides...

I was listening to John Carlson on KVI coming home tonight and he had an authority on about drilling in ANWR. The authority said that there is about a 38-hour window to contact your congresscritters re voting in ANWR. IIRC he said that there was language in both the Defense Bill and the appropriation bill (sorry, don't remember specifics as I was trying to concentrate on driving downtown Seattle in rush hour - something I don't normally do). John said he had spoken w Congressman Reichert (my Congressman) and while Dave supports drilling in ANWR, he's probably going to vote...

WASHINGTON - The Republican-run Senate postponed fights with the Bush administration over the treatment of terror suspects and military base closings Tuesday after GOP leaders failed to derail proposals opposed by the White House. The decision by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to shelve the $491 billion defense bill means debate over the wartime defense measure and the detainee and base-closing amendments almost certainly won't occur until after Labor Day. The Senate is to leave for a monthlong break at week's end. After putting the defense bill aside, the Senate began debating legislation shielding gun manufacturers and dealers from...

W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 10 — The House overwhelmingly approved on Thursday a compromise $355.4 billion defense bill brimming with money for new destroyers, helicopters and missiles and granting President Bush most of the Pentagon buildup he requested following last year's terrorist attacks. While the day's spotlight shone on the congressional debate over authorizing Bush to use force against Iraq, the massive defense spending package one-sixth of the entire federal budget underlined the bipartisan consensus behind beefing up the military. Quick Senate approval was also expected, and White House press secretary Ari Fleischer...