This week, the House took up and passed the Military Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2014 after considering 100 amendments. Debate around the NSA program, the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, funding limits and on other hot button issues was highly contentious. The results were mixed.
The House did approve an amendment by Reps. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) to reduce war funding by $3.5 billion, down from $85.5 billion. It failed to prohibit funding for the NSA via an amendment by Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) and also failed to adopt a framework for closing the prions at Guantanamo Bay via an amendment offered by Reps. Jim Moran (D-VA) and Adam Smith (D-WA). There were several other cuts adopted to various aspects of funding for the U.S. war in Afghanistan. A bad amendment to prohibit funding for the transfer of Gitmo prisoners to Yemen offered by Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) unfortunately passed.
The bill provides a mind numbing $512.5 billion dollars in base Pentagon funding in over $80 billion for the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Check out more amendments we were watching and also check out a comprehensive list of the 100 amendments offered.
Matt Southworth
Legislative Associate for Foreign Policy
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Twitter: @MattLSouthworth
Facebook: /msouthworth