House Voting on Amash Amendment to Defund NSA Tomorrow
Latest defense spending bill now being considered by the House
A victory in the Rules Committee last night means the House will consider the Amash Amendment, which seeks to defund the NSA's domestic surveillance programs, as well as another amendment that seeks to bar the NSA from collecting data on Americans unless they're under investigation. They're both amendments to the latest defense spending bill. While Rep. Justin Amash thanked Speaker Boehner last night via Twitter for "working diligently" over concerns about the amendment process after the Rules Committee vote, it took some work to get Boehner there. Via Buzzfeed:
Boehner and Amash had been negotiating over the amendment and Amash had threatened to vote against a procedural vote on the bill — and bring some 20 Republican votes along to defeat it — if his amendment did not get a vote.
"I would be very surprised if you could get a Department of Defense appropriations rule through this house with out a reasonable amendment like this being allowed on the floor," Amash said last week in an interview with BuzzFeed.
As Amash noted while urging people to contact their member of Congress, again via Twitter, the work's not done until the vote tomorrow. Several grassroots internet activists have set up a website, DefundtheNSA.com, which explains the Amash Amendment and provides a way to find and contact your member of Congress about the vote.
The Rules victory also means several other defense bill amendments will be considered by the House. Some of those are, via Fox News:
On Syria, the House will vote on a proposal from Florida Republican Rep. Trey Radel, who is seeking to block funding for military operations in Syria inconsistent with the War Powers Resolution…
The House will also consider an amendment introduced by Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Amash that prohibits the use of funding for military or paramilitary operations in Egypt.
On Guantanamo Bay, members will vote on a proposal by Reps. Jim Moran, D-Va, and Adam Smith, D-Wash., that would permit the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the United States or elsewhere.
All of those votes will likely come tomorrow. You can see more information about the defense bill, HR 2397, here.
