This Week in Congress: NDAA Update

Yesterday, the motion to move to final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the Senate by a vote of 81-15. This means that Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rand Paul (R-KY) will not be able to offer their amendments preventing the United States government from indefinitely detaining American citizens without due process.  You can see the roll-call vote here.

Senator Lee tried to get unanimous consent to offer his amendment forbidding indefinite detention of American citizens, but Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) objected. Yesterday, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) objected that the amendment was not germane. This objection was sustained by the chair.

It defies all logic that the Lee Amendment could be non-germane when it deals with an issue that was created by the 2011 NDAA. Senator Graham may have been the leading opponent of repealing indefinite detention, but the fact is he could not have succeeded without at least the quiet consent of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and the motion from Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), who is acting Senate Defense Committee Chair while Defense Chair John McCain (R-AZ) is undergoing treatment for brain cancer.

Senator Graham’s dogged insistence that no indefinite detention amendment be brought up, combined with the resounding defeat of a motion to table Senator Lee’s amendment (see vote here), suggests the amendment would have passed — which makes it more outrageous that Senator Inhofe was able to block it from even being voted on.

Campaign for Liberty members who are outraged over the procedural tricks pulled by Senator Graham and Senator Inhofe, and the failure of Senator McConnell to allow the Senate to debate and vote on indefinite detention, should call Senators Graham, McConnell, and Inhofe at the following numbers. If you cannot get through on the D.C. office numbers, try one of the local numbers.

Lindsey Graham
DC office 202-224-5972
Upstate Office 864-250-8417
Midlands Office 803-933-0112
Pee Dee Regional 843-669-1505
Low county Regional 843-849-3887
Piedmont Regional 803-366-2828
Goldoni Corner Regional 864-646-4090

Mitch McConnell
DC 202-224-2541
Kentucky 502-582-6304

James Inhofe
DC 202-224-4721
Tulsa 918-748-5111
Oklahoma City 405-208-8841
McAlester 918-426-0933
Enid 80-234-5105