Podcasts about defense authorization

A clause in the Defense Authorization law for 2025 has procurement attorneys sitting up in their chairs. It calls on the Defense Department and the Government Accountability Office to develop a plan to test a novel idea. Having companies that lose bid protests to repay DoD for legal costs. Joining me with what this could all mean, Venable procurement attorney Chris Griesedieck. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A clause in the Defense Authorization law for 2025 has procurement attorneys sitting up in their chairs. It calls on the Defense Department and the Government Accountability Office to develop a plan to test a novel idea. Having companies that lose bid protests to repay DoD for legal costs. Joining me with what this could all mean, Venable procurement attorney Chris Griesedieck. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Fresh from their annual baseball game, members of Congress are back at work on the Hill. Lots of activity centers on the National Defense Authorization Bill, which has, for starters, passed the House. And, strangely, there's been some movement on the slow-moving, but never-ending topic, surrounding a new FBI headquarters. For this week's outlook, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Fresh from their annual baseball game, members of Congress are back at work on the Hill. Lots of activity centers on the National Defense Authorization Bill, which has, for starters, passed the House. And, strangely, there's been some movement on the slow-moving, but never-ending topic, surrounding a new FBI headquarters. For this week's outlook, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dana reacts to Biden's anti-gun speech to Everytown for Gun Safety and takes offense to a specific line Biden said about a tyrannical government. Sec. of State Blinken says the US is determined to try to bridge the gaps with Hamas. Dana explains why Hunter Biden's conviction should not be celebrated from the right. EU-US Forum Member & Former Trump State Department Official Matt Mowers joins us to preview Biden's G7 trip and the far-right gains in Europe's election results and if that could be a bellwether for November. Is Russia conducting marine exercises off the Florida coast? Russian nationals with ties to ISIS are apprehended at the border. Rep. Bob Good joins us to discuss his bill to deregulate suppressors, the Merrick Garland contempt vote, the contents in the latest Defense Authorization bill.Please visit our great sponsors:Ammo Squaredhttps://ammosquared.comEnsure you are prepared for whatever comes your way with ammosquared.comBlack Rifle Coffeehttps://blackriflecoffee.com/danaUse code DANA to save 20% on your next order.  Byrnahttps://byrna.com/danaVisit today for 10% off and get the protection you need.  Goldcohttps://danalikesgold.comGet your free Gold Kit from GoldCo today.Hillsdale Collegehttps://danaforhillsdale.comVisit DanaForHillsdale.com to start your National Survey on Presidential Selection today!KelTechttps://KelTecWeapons.comSign up for the KelTec Insider and be the first to know the latest KelTec news.Lumenhttps://lumen.me/DANASHOWVisit lumen.me/danashow today for 15% off your purchase.  Patriot Mobilehttps://patriotmobile.com/danaGet free activation with code Dana.ReadyWise https://readywise.comUse promo code Dana20 to save 20% on any regularly priced item.The Wellness Companyhttps://twc.health/danaUse promo code DANA to save 15%.

The Project on Government Oversight (POGO), one of the longest-running external good-government groups, has a list of items its watching for in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. A House committee has already passed one version. For details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talks with POGO Public Policy Director Liz Hempowicz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Project on Government Oversight (POGO), one of the longest-running external good-government groups, has a list of items its watching for in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. A House committee has already passed one version. For details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talks with POGO Public Policy Director Liz Hempowicz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Several years in, and still no national guard component for the Space Force. What Space Force got in the most recent Defense Authorization bill is a feasibility study. For what that means, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Brig. Gen. Michael Bruno from the Colorado National Guard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Several years in, and still no national guard component for the Space Force. What Space Force got in the most recent Defense Authorization bill is a feasibility study. For what that means, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Brig. Gen. Michael Bruno from the Colorado National Guard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It looks like Congress has managed to get the National Defense Authorization law done before December 31. As always, the bill is chock full of items federal contractors should pay attention to. For five of them, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin turned to the President and CEO of the Professional Services Council, David Berteau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It looks like Congress has managed to get the National Defense Authorization law done before December 31. As always, the bill is chock full of items federal contractors should pay attention to. For five of them, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin turned to the President and CEO of the Professional Services Council, David Berteau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike Ferguson in the Morning 12-12-23 Ryan Walker from Heritage Action talks about the National Defense Authorization Act as the Biden administration continues to weaken the integrity of our military. (https://heritageaction.com/) News roundup & Blues host the Detroit Red Wings tonight at 6:30pm at Enterprise Center (note earlier faceoff time).  Website: https://newstalkstl.com/ Livestream 24/7: http://bit.ly/newstalkstlstream Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/NewsTalkSTLSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's down to the wire for the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, over which the house and senate are still working out differences. This as Congress prepares to depart for the holidays. For the details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Bloomberg Government Deputy News Director Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's down to the wire for the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, over which the house and senate are still working out differences. This as Congress prepares to depart for the holidays. For the details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Bloomberg Government Deputy News Director Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Conference work on the National Defense Authorization Act for 2024 proceeds, even as nothing else in Congress seems to be working. As always, the NDAA has provisions affecting Defense contractors. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with someone who says that sometimes, good intentions aren't matched by good legislation. Tom's guest was the President and CEO of the Professional Services Council, David Berteau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Conference work on the National Defense Authorization Act for 2024 proceeds, even as nothing else in Congress seems to be working. As always, the NDAA has provisions affecting Defense contractors. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with someone who says that sometimes, good intentions aren't matched by good legislation. Tom's guest was the President and CEO of the Professional Services Council, David Berteau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The defense authorization bills, while contentious, would do a lot for contractors; from inflation relief to easing greenhouse gas emissions reporting. For a summary, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Haynes Boone procurement attorney Dan Ramish. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The defense authorization bills, while contentious, would do a lot for contractors; from inflation relief to easing greenhouse gas emissions reporting. For a summary, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Haynes Boone procurement attorney Dan Ramish. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are we calling up reserve troops, Bob Vander Plaat, a leading political activist in Iowa does not want Trump to be the nominee, and drama on the house floor over the Defense Authorization bill. Hollywood is on strike over the use of artificial intelligence.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Showdate:  7/14/23 Bill site -- WriteYourLaws.com    Show site -- BlogTalkRadio.com/citizenaction    My articles -- GregPenglis.Substack.com    Paid subscriptions available! Contributions -- GiveSendGo.com/ActionRadio   www.Paypal.com/Paypalme/ActionRadio "We the People Give Our Consent to be Governed, through Writing the Laws by Which We are Governed!" ***** Action Radio Show Notes:  Greg Penglis - Creator and Host. 0:00 - The "Pupdate" Animal Shelter Report, with Tara D.  Lots about the shelter and events. 30:00 - The Financial Report, with Derek Park.  Oil, inflation and interest rates. 1:00:00 - All the GOP Defense Authorization Amendments the News won't tell you about.  Catherine Arnett joined me for over two hours of analysis of the NDAA 2024 bill. ***** Our Discount Code is - WYL - and applies to all products on the slideshow and below! MyPillow!  Discounts up to 66%!  https://www.mypillow.com/wyl Graith Care Affiliates! 10% Discount! https://graithcare.vitafyhealth.com/code/WYL Strike Force Energy Drinks!  20% Discount Code - WYL. www.strikeforceenergy.com.  ***** Live show 7-10 am Central time weekdays, then podcast. Use the "Keyword Search" window at the top to find previous shows! International Skype online call in - Skype name - live:.cid.fddbac53a2909de1   Email:  Greg@WriteYourLaws.com

(6/23/23) - In today's Federal Newscast: The House Armed Services Committee sends an $874 billion defense bill to the House floor. The GAO says the military health care system still needs to complete Congressionally-mandated reforms. And the Senior Executives Association has a new president. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

(6/23/23) - In today's Federal Newscast: The House Armed Services Committee sends an $874 billion defense bill to the House floor. The GAO says the military health care system still needs to complete Congressionally-mandated reforms. And the Senior Executives Association has a new president. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In one fell swoop, the Court of Federal Claims upended two major governmentwide acquisition contracts from the General Services Administration and almost five years of effort to change the culture of federal contracting.The Court ruled April 21 that GSA's interpretation of Section 876 of the 2018 Defense Authorization was too broad as applied to the Polaris small business GWAC. The decision, released publicly last Friday, not only forces GSA to pause its efforts on Polaris, but also make a significant change to its strategy for OASIS+, the follow-on multiple award contract for professional services. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In one fell swoop, the Court of Federal Claims upended two major governmentwide acquisition contracts from the General Services Administration and almost five years of effort to change the culture of federal contracting. The Court ruled April 21 that GSA's interpretation of Section 876 of the 2018 Defense Authorization was too broad as applied to the Polaris small business GWAC. The decision, released publicly last Friday, not only forces GSA to pause its efforts on Polaris, but also make a significant change to its strategy for OASIS+, the follow-on multiple award contract for professional services. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former congressman David Price '61 joined Catalyze with scholar co-hosts Benny Klein '24 and Elias Guedira '26 in December 2022 during the politician's final month in office. Price, who retired this January, represented North Carolina's fourth district, including Orange County, Chapel Hill.The alumnus visited the Foundation to share about his lifetime career of public service and his over three decades serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. Price also spoke about his involvement as a scholar in the civil rights movement at UNC–Chapel Hill, some of his proudest political accomplishments, and his post-retirement plans. Price released the fourth edition of his book, The Congressional Experience, in 2020. He revised the book to cover the Obama and Trump administrations. After receiving his bachelor's degree at Carolina, he pursued graduate studies at Yale University to earn a theology degree (1964) and a PhD in political science (1969). Price is a professor of political science at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy.Music creditsThe intro music is by Scott Hallyburton '22, guitarist of the band South of the Soul. How to listenOn your mobile device, you can listen and subscribe to Catalyze on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. For any other podcast app, you can find the show using our RSS feed.Catalyze is hosted and produced by Sarah O'Carroll for the Morehead-Cain Foundation, home of the first merit scholarship program in the United States and located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can let us know what you thought of the episode by finding us on Twitter or Instagram at @moreheadcain or you can email us at communications@moreheadcain.org.

In the first episode of the new year, we discuss the 2023 Defense Authorization Act passed in December 2022 and what this means for US military policy over the coming year. This episode was originally recorded December 19th. Submit a question for The New Next Connect with Matt on LinkedIn Connect with Mike on LinkedIn

Veterans groups keep a close eye on authorization and appropriations for the military. They're please with increases in housing allowances for troops planned for 2023. To discuss this and more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with the director of the national security division of the American Legion, Mario Marquez. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Veterans groups keep a close eye on authorization and appropriations for the military. They're please with increases in housing allowances for troops planned for 2023. To discuss this and more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with the director of the national security division of the American Legion, Mario Marquez. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Like much of the legislation enacted in the past couple of years, the National Defense Authorization Act has something for everybody. That includes the nation's federal and military firefighters. For more, the Federal Drive turned to the president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, Edward Kelly.

From inflation adjustment to procurement leadtimes, the National Defense Authorization bill the Senate takes up today will address a few issues that have been nagging contractors for years. For highlights, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with the President and CEO of the Professional Services Council, David Berteau.

It will have things to love and hate, but it looks like the National Defense Authorization Bill will make it to passage in the remainder of the 117th Congress. But what about Friday's government funding deadline? Federal Drive host Tom Temin gets the latest from Loren Duggan, Bloomberg Government deputy news director.

1) Short term spending bill or long term? Military or discretionary spending. This is the debate on government funding bill. We'll dive into it. 1A) Biden wants to prioritize spending for Ukraine and Covid along with the Defense Authorization. 2) "Flat out lie" - Oil companies claim Biden is lying saying domestic oil production is discouraged in the U.S. citing 125 actions taken to reduce domestic production 3) The economy grew at a revised rate of 2.9% in Q-3 up from a 2.6% initial figure. The forecast for Q-4 is 1% 4) McConnell casts doubt on Trump after diner with White Nationalist 5) Crypto "death spiral" continues as another firm called Bitfront closes. Numerous crypto firms paid high interest rates on crypto deposits that had no backing other than fictional coins they created and leveraged up and borrowed on. A Classic Ponzi Scheme unraveling. 6) Something called a "non-binary who worked in the Biden Administration charged with stealing luggage in an airport. This is INSANE. Male/Female - no, Heterosexual/Homosexual - no. The insanity of identity politics

This week, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman reiterated the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review, which states that "the United States would only consider the employment of nuclear weapons in extreme circumstances to defend the vital interests of the United States, its allies, and partners. Extreme circumstances could include significant non-nuclear strategic attacks." Natalie Armbruster of Defense Priorities joins us this week to talk about who is formally a US ally — and not — and how over the years Washington has built a web of entangling alliances of different formalities and caliber, drawing the US into fights and causing others that have no real basis in the U.S. national interest. In the second segment, Kelley & Dan talk about the U.S. 101st Airborne Division on the border with Ukraine, and the progressives going wobbly on diplomacy.More from Natalie: Who is an ally and why does it matter? — w/ Ben Friedman, Defense Priorities, 10/12/22The 2023 Defense Authorization risks more of the same — Instick Media, 8/4/22Biden shouldn't put American lives on the line to defend the United Arab Emirates — Business Insider, 6/14/22Apply the logic of the Afghanistan withdrawal to Syria — Defense Priorities, 3/7/2022 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit crashingthewarparty.substack.com

Rep. Jim Jordan (R) of Ohio plans on holding the Defense Authorization act "hostage" if Democrats don't agree to re-instate every member of our military who lost their job for being un-vaxed.  This plan hinges on Republicans taking back the House on November 8th. Jordan also discusses the possibility of running for Speaker of the House. So many conservatives are desperate for Jordan's leadership in the House. Also, new immigration numbers are out.  They prove the Democrats are actively trying to transform the suburbs to model the inner cities of America to put suburbanites at the mercy of the government.  The transformation of America is well under way.  We can stop it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a bit of progress for regular order, the House last week managed to pass its version of the National Defense Authorization Act. And, members will get down to the 2023 spending bills this week. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin got the latest from WTOP Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller.

The House Armed Services committee spent time last week marking up the defense authorization bill for 2023. As always, the NDAA has a lot to say about procurement and contractors. But it doesn't say anything about whether they're compensated for inflation. Here with what the services contractor community is watching closely, Professional Services Council president David Berteau.

The Defense Authorization Bill has been signed....we'll tell you about a few changes. Still on the Pentagon's Circumspect List: China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. And in COVID news, more sailors test positive, while 66 more marines are fired.

The war of words is escalating between Rep. Lauren Boebert and Rep. Ilhan Omar over Islamaphobic comments from Boebert at a fundraiser. But the political math is tough for Speaker Pelosi, who must decide whether or not to discipline the somewhat penitent Republican, Boebert. The betting action is very fluid and exciting on this one. The Boys also talk about the FDA's potential approval of COVID wonder drug Paxlovid, and the stalled Defense Authorization.

The clock is ticking for Congress to pass some important pieces of legislation. Senator Mitt Romney joined Boyd to get everyone up to date on everything from the debt limit to the Build Back Better plan.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leader of Russian Opposition: Navalnry sentenced to a prison camp, could he become a Slavic Nelson Mandela? Cuba opens its economy in sweeping reforms. How this could impact relations with the US, Oil companies start buying up all the EV charging infrastructure around the world, and Biden Uses the Korean war era Defense Authorization act to speed up vaccination efforts. 

The boys are back for season 2 and a brand new spanking name at the top; the Southern Podcast Authority. They discuss the Nashville bombing of the AT&T building, the Donald's horrible, terrible, no good, very bad phone call to Georgia Sec of State, and the Defense Authorization bill. As always, the elites are terrible and we really miss y'all. *Recorded before the Capitol incident. Be on the look out for a special ep coming soon.

Tom Squitieri end-of-year conversation with Steve Bowers on the governmental transition and explosion in Yemen, the Trump release of documents pertaining to China and where is the Senate headed on Defense Authorization.

Late yesterday President Trump signed the $900 billion coronavirus relief package, narrowly averting a government shutdown. The long-sought and often-bickered bill highlight the headache-inducing issues of snail-paced politics and closed-door lobbying. All this happens in the limbo of the week between Christmas and New Year’s and while The House is trying to override the president’s veto of the Defense Authorization bill. What can actually be done in this last week of 2020?  ‘Inside Sources with Boyd Matheson,’ Opinion Editor at Deseret News, takes you inside the latest political news and current events, providing higher ground for today's discussions. Listen live Monday through Thursday from 11 am to noon at 1160 AM and 102.7 FM, online at KSLNewsradio.com, or on the app. Listen on-demand as a podcast on your favorite platform or web browser. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.  Want more Boyd? Don’t forget to listen to his Deseret News podcast ‘Therefore, What?,’ sign up for his weekly newsletter, and follow him on Twitter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Congressman Gaetz joins the Pensacola Morning News to discuss readjusting our focus from terrorist threats to threats from Russia and China, his vote against Defense Authorization, Congressman Gaetz being one of five Republicans to vote to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, and his view on the results of the presidential election.

Bob Ney and Steve Bowers talk Trump transition, the Real GOP, Defense Authorization, Vaccine and Will It Be Required? in this Dec 4, 2020 interview on Blue Suede Forever..

Tom Squitieri from the Pentagon on the Defense Authorization Bill and reflections on Afghanistan after 20 years of U.S. presence.

Federal entities across the board have been striving to adopt and become skilled in the art of artificial intelligence. Now the Congressionally-mandated National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, a creature of the 2019 Defense Authorization law, is seeking input from small and medium sized businesses. With more about what the commission is up to, the Federal Drive turned to commission member the former assistant secretary of defense for acquisition, Katharina McFarland.

Congress had so many small adjustments to procurement in its 2020 Defense Authorization bill, it ran out of 800 series digits. Joining the show with some of the provisions you might have overlooked, procurement attorney Joseph Petrillo of Petrillo and Powell.

In today's Federal Newscast, the 2020 Defense Authorization bill mandates all three branches have an assistant secretary for installations, energy, and environment.

The defense authorization bill sets the nation’s defense priorities, spending limits for Pentagon programs and gives soldiers a pay raise. Despite differences in the past, Congress has always been able to pass the bill. This yearmay be different. Disagreements over the source of border wall funding has stalled the process. CQ Roll Call defense reporter Andrew Clevenger has been following the process and joins the podcast to explain what the hurdles are and what could happen if the bill fails to pass.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Engineering Influence welcomed Rep. Bruce Westerman (Arkansas-4) to the program to discuss his career in engineering and in Congress.Transcript:Host: Welcome to another edition of Engineering Influence, a podcast from the American Council of Engineering Companies. It's a pleasure to welcome Congressman Bruce Westerman to the show. Congressman Westerman hails from Hot Springs, Arkansas and represents the state's fourth congressional district in the House of Representatives. He currently serves on the Natural Resources Committee and as Ranking Member on the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the House. Congressman Westerman graduated from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor of science degree in biological and agricultural engineering. He is also a graduate of Yale University earning a master of forestry service degree or I guess master of forestry degree forestry. Yeah. which makes him doubly unique in Congress. He's not only an engineer, but he's also a Forester of which there are not many serving in the house right now. Pretty much just yourself, I believe. Just one. Thank you very much for coming onto the program.Rep. Westerman:  Jeff, it's great to be with you and a real honor to get to be on an ACEC podcast and talk about engineering and how that's benefited me with my service in Congress. You know, I had a nearly a two and a half decade career in engineering before I came to Congress and really enjoyed that. I always tell people I like my job in Congress, but I could go back in and be an engineer tomorrow and be perfectly content.Host:  Actually, I was here when you spoke to members of our senior executive Institute class last month here in DC about your background in engineering and how you've applied that to your work in Congress. And I think you made the comment of pretty much saying that, you know, members come up to you because you're an engineer and expect you to have answers on just about anything related to engineering. How has your professional work in the field of engineering helped you in your roles, both in your committee work and then also in the general work that you do as a member? And I believe you're also on the science committee previously how has that impacted your ability to be an effective Member?Rep. Westerman: Being an engineer in Congress is you know, it's a, it's a small group of us that are up here. There's not many engineers and like we already said, there's only one Forester in the, in the House. So if you've got a particular area of expertise, people really want to seek that out, especially your, your colleagues because you know, they, they generally feel like they can trust you if you want to give them, give them information. But also being an engineer probably has some drawbacks because of things like our code of professional conduct where we're not expected or we're expected not to comment on things we don't have expertise in, whereas a member of Congress, you're expected to comment on everything. So I after my freshman term, I got voted the quietest member of our freshman class, and I always told them this because you've got two ears to listen and one mouth to speak with.Rep. Westerman: So I'll try to try to be measured in what I say and try to be accurate in what I say. And of course Congress touches, touches everything from foreign policy to healthcare tax policy. And you really have to study and read a lot just to stay on top of the issues. But when those things come along, that engineering directly impacts it's great to have some history and background and the, the education and experience to be able to make pertinent comments on those those issues and add to the conversation. But I'll get asked to speak to a lot of engineering students around the country and I'll always tell them that the thing they probably don't realize now, but they'll will realize someday is that engineering is, is really glorified problem solving. You're learning a lot of science, a lot of math.Rep. Westerman: You're getting all the tools in the toolbox to go out and solve problems. But what you really learn going through an engineering curriculum and what you learned doing engineering on the job is how to analyze issues, define the problem, come up with a plan implement that plan and solve a problem. That's beneficial. Whether you're in Congress, whether you're working in a corporation, working in your own business or whatever you do. Those problem solving abilities are very valuable to have. And I think that's the best thing that engineering gave me and prepared me for to come here and serve in Congress.Host: That's really interesting point because one of the things that we talk about at ACEC and we're going to be doing a lot more with a new strategic plan that we just adopted on the role of engineering in society and engineer's not just as math side, the science side, but also the problem solving, the trusted advisor to clients of looking at a challenge and finding ways to innovative ways to solve those challenges and, and to apply their background and experience to, to those challenges. So that's a really interesting point. I do want to bring up the forestry side of things cause I'm a Penn State grad. We had a forestry program at Penn State. Not exactly Yale as far as, in terms of school, but I wanted to ask the question of how you got into and interested in forestry and where that kinda stems from.Rep. Westerman: Yeah, it's kind of a unique combination, I guess having an undergraduate in engineering and a graduate degree in forestry. But I grew up in, in Arkansas, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where I still live today, beautiful area, lots of national forest, a lot of private forest. And the career that I had for two decades was working for an ACEC member engineering firm. And we specialize in the forest products area. So when people asked me about my engineering career, I basically say that if there's some process that takes a tree and make something out of it, then I got the opportunity to design one of those facilities during my career. So getting a forestry degree was very natural and beneficial in the the business that I was in because you always started with what's the resource, what, what resources available and, and what's the most valuable product we can make out of that resource and what kind of equipment and machinery best fits the resource to convert that resource into a product that can be sold in the marketplace. And plus, I've always loved the outdoors.Rep. Westerman: My Sunday School teacher was a world war II veteran. He, he flew in the bloody 100th bomb bombing squadron and he was just a fantastic guy, but he was, he was in the first forestry graduating class at the university of Arkansas at Monticello where our forestry school is. And I think Mr. Colepepper inspired a love for the forest and the outdoors and always wanted to go to graduate school. So it just, it worked out very well from a career and a personal goal standpoint to go study about trees. And another example of how being here in Congress and being the only, only person in the house where a forestry education and background, I work a lot on forest policy. And you know, the federal government owns a 193 million acres of timberland that's just in the Forest Service, but you throw in the BLM and the park service and you're between 250 and 300 million acres of public forest land.Rep. Westerman: You know, today we're seeing the extreme forest fires in California and there's a lot of work that could be just be done just on the forestry side. And I'm really excited about it because forests are the link between clean air and clean water, which gets into a lot of the things that we as engineers work on. And you know, forests are the natural carbon sequesters. They're the most - good forest trees, the most pragmatic approach we can have to clean environment. And it's the best offensive tool that we've got. So I'm doing a lot of work in the forestry side of things here in Congress. And you know, one thing that we're really looking at is this new concept of mass timber and it's a new building system that's been done in Europe for quite some time, but we can now build buildings up to 18 stories tall.Rep. Westerman: At my alma mater, the University of Arkansas, they just completed two five story mass timber dormitories. They had already built a mass timber library storage building. So it, it does a lot of, lot of things for you. Number one, it uses you can use locally sourced materials. These materials. Wood is on a dry basis, is 45 to 50% carbon, so it creates a huge carbon sink. It's a great insulating product, so you can build these buildings where they're sustainable and they don't use as much energy to operate and maintain. So a lot of positives with things like, wood, but then there's a lot of more research that can be done. We could use wood as feed stocks for chemicals. That's good feedstock for nanoparticles. I just saw something the other day where they've come up with a nano material made from wood cellulous that can be put into concrete that reduces the amount of Portland Cement and actually increases the strength and durability of the, of concrete. So the, I think the sky's the limit on what we can do with wood, which is a good renewable resource. And again, it, it's the lungs of the earth and the kidneys of the earth that cleans the air and cleans the water.Host:  And that's really an interesting point. And actually we covered the mass timber issue in our most recent private industry brief that Erin McLaughlin in our office puts together. And again, that was the change in December of 2019. The ICC loosened the restrictions to allow buildings up to 18 stories in height effective in 2021 compared to the limit of six stories and commercial structures currently. So that's, that's an interesting, that's an interesting nexus between the forestry side and the engineering side.Rep. Westerman: As a result of those projects they're in, in Northwest Arkansas on the University of Arkansas campus, a company just up the road, Walmart, announced they're building a new corporate headquarters. Now you think about you know, the largest company in the world building a corporate headquarters, 15,000 people, there'll be housing. So it'll be like a small college campus. I think they told me three and a half million square feet, but they're going to build the whole facility out of Southern Pine mass timber grown and manufactured in Arkansas. So that's a great story to tell, not only from the environmental stewardship side, but these local economies for timber has grown or in rural areas. And it's a, it's a good story about how we can help the autonomy in rural areas and do something good for the environment at the same time. And there's a lot of other, I've been told that Microsoft, Adidas I think Google, there's a lot of major corporations that are looking to use more of this mass timber in there Buildings.Host: You know, buildings like that would fit in perfectly in Seattle and, and a lot of the Pacific Northwest especially. I do want to stay with the whole idea of economic development, but shifting over to infrastructure. You serve as the Ranking Member on the Water Subcommittee and of course WRDA is probably the most, the big bill that subcommittee is going to be working on for the Congress. That's a critical bill for our ports, harbors, inland waterways, locks, dams, just all of that, not just the, the seaside ports like Charleston or Savannah, but also the interior - moving goods around the country. Now with a lot of the members who listen to the podcast, they're getting a lot of their news from CNN. They're getting it from Fox and they're not hearing everything that's going on. You know, at the granular level. Where does the WRDA bill stand right now and where do you see when you see as the prospects of getting that through?Rep. Westerman: So we've got a good track record going on WRDA and we certainly don't want to disrupt that. I believe we've the past six years or maybe eight years, we've got a WRDA bill through Congress. I know the whole time that I've been here, we've got WRDA bills passed on a two year cycle and there seems to be bipartisan support to get a WRDA bill out next year. And I will say serving on T&I, and actually being the ranking member on water and environment subcommittee. I was very fortunate in this Congress, which seems to be highly partisan with, you know, the impeachment issues and everything else going on. We've got a pretty good track record so far on the water and environment subcommittee. We just got a bill passed off the floor to use the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to actually develop and improve harbors as it was set in place to do you know, nearly, you know, nine to $10 billion in that fund.Rep. Westerman: But it wasn't getting used to maintain harbors and it was put strictly put in place for that purpose. So I'm glad to see we pass it off the House Floor in a bipartisan manner. I hope the Senate will take it up and get that signed into law. We also just out of Committee this week we passed the the, the loan fund for wastewater systems. And I think that's a great opportunity to go in and you know, have the funding mechanisms so that cities can, can borrow the money to repair these wastewater systems, which the, I believe it was American Society of Civil Engineers gave our wastewater infrastructure a D plus grade. And I know as I travel around in my district there's a lot of work that needs to be done on both wastewater.Rep. Westerman: And potable water system. So we're, we're getting bills passed out of committee off the floor. Those, you know, it doesn't usually make Fox or CNN when you pass a water bill out of the House, but it makes a lot of difference across the country. And I feel very fortunate to be working on that. I'm really looking forward to working with the, the Subcommittee Chairman Grace Napalitano from California, Peter DeFazio, now the Democratic Chairman, and then Sam Graves who is the Ranking Member. We've got a commitment to, to get this word of bill done. And as you mentioned, it's very important to many parts of the country. You know, our navigable waterways took a beating in the flooding this past past spring and summer in my district and in many other places in the country. We've got a lot of work to do on that.Rep. Westerman: There's a lot of work that needs to be done on again ports and harbors deepening channels and that sort of thing. So there's, there's no end of, of opportunities and good things that we can spend money on that are, that are good for the country. And I think part of the reason we have a federal government, you know, provide for the common defense and, and take care of interstate transportation systems and that's what T&I does. So those are the things we should be prioritizing and putting our funds towards because it helps grow the economy and and helps, you know, the country grow, which helps us be able to provide nice things and, and people to have jobs and find, make their own way through life. So excited about what we're doing on the, on the water subcommittee.Host: And then I guess just to kind of wrap it up, I mean it, with everything going on in Washington, you know, it's so dominated the headlines by intrigue and pretty much inside the beltway, kind of partisan squabbles because it, you know, gets ratings. But you know, for your constituents and for members in the engineering profession out there who are listening and saying, okay, what's Congress doing? I mean, what, what message would you leave them with? As far as what Washington is doing and, and how things are, are looking at the end of the year and may shape up for for 2020?Rep. Westerman: Well, right now I would, I wouldn't give Congress a very good grade on what we're doing. I mean, we're operating under a Continuing Resolution, which is been a huge pet peeve of mine since I've got here. If there's, if there's one thing I would, if I could change it and I've worked hard to try to change it that's to get us back to what I call regular order, where we do appropriation bills. We debate those bills in the open, we offer amendments on the floor, pass all 12 of them out of the House. And if the Senate would take those up and go through the same process, we know our fiscal year ends on September 30th every year. And we need a new budget by then. We know the timeline, we know what needs to be done. We're just not getting it done.Rep. Westerman:  And that causes all kinds of problems. When you look at, we don't even have a Defense Authorization bill done this year. And, and that's one of the primary reasons to have a federal government is provide for the common defense. If, if we can't get that done, if we can't get a budget done we really should be ashamed of the job that we're doing here. Now we can talk about some positive things on T&I. There's some small things that we agree on and they're getting done. And in the big picture, the politics are getting way too much in the way. And with the 2020 presidential election coming up with all the talk about impeachment it's really taken the focus off for the job of Congress. We've still got a huge, huge issue with healthcare in this country.Rep. Westerman: We've got huge issues with immigration we need to be addressing. But there are a lot of us that are working on those policies and we've got bills drafted and we're ready to go. But you just can't get it in committee. You can't get time on the floor. The USMCA, a trade agreement that would be great for our country has got bipartisan support. You know, Mexico is now our largest trading partner. So you'd have your first and second largest trading partners with a new agreement that would benefit farmers, benefit the whole country. And we can't get it on the floor for a vote. It could've passed two months ago with bipartisan support. So that's frustrating. But again, engineers are problem solvers and I keep looking at it, you know, how can I make a difference? How can we change this?Rep. Westerman: And it, a lot of times it's a slow change. And a lot of times it takes changes in leadership. It takes changes in which party is in control. But I see light at the end of the tunnel and you know, in on the positive side of things is the economy's doing quite well. We could do, we could be doing better and we see pathways to make that happen and I want to continue working on that and using hopefully what I learned studying engineering and doing engineering for a couple of decades and applying that here in the United States House of Representatives.Host: Well, Congressman, thank you very much. There's still a lot of work to do, but like you said, engineers are problem solvers and you're going to be here to help solve those problems. So really appreciate your time this morning and coming on the show and, and, and hope to have you on the future. And I guess today you have some votes and then you're out, right? The this is, this is the end of the week legislatively.Rep. Westerman: Yeah. This is a fly out day. It's a you know, I love my job, but the happiest day of the week are when I'm heading back to Arkansas, back to the real world. And the people I grew up with, the people I love and the people I get to represent here in this this great job in the U S so we do have a vote today actually a vote on the impeachment inquiry. So I wish we were voting on a WRDA bill or something like that, but it is what it is. And you know, I look forward to continuing to work is a lot of the things that people don't see that are here in DC is that when most members of Congress are back in our districts, we're working as much there as we are up here in DC. It's a different kind of work. And with, I've got a large rural district, so I spend a lot of time on the road, but always enjoy getting back.Host: Well, Congressman Bruce Westerman, thank you very much for being on the show. Again, this has been another episode of Engineering Influence from the American Council of Engineering Companies. 

Tammy Flanagan, senior benefits director at the National Institute of Transition Planning, and Greg Klingler, director at GEBA Wealth Management, discuss what updates to the Thrift Savings Plan mean for federal employees, and how access and withdrawals will change. Dave Wennergren, CEO of ACT-IAC, discusses the Cloud Smart strategy, and why moving to the cloud is a key modernization goal. Kea Matory, director of Legislative Policy at NDIA discusses how conferencing of the Defense Authorization act will play out, and how proposed changes to acquisition regulations will impact the industrial base.

Both legislative houses have passed their versions of the 2020 defense authorization bills and now and there's a lot to fight over. The House version, passed last week, has some significant differences with the Senate counterpart. It also had some interesting amendments attached to it. Federal News Network's Scott Maucione joined the show to explain.

The House this week will take up its version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act amid opposition from Republicans and potential defections from progressives. The Senate passed its version of the bill, which will need to be reconciled with the House's version. On this episode of “Suspending the Rules,” Bloomberg Government defense reporters Roxana Tiron and Travis Tritten break down the House bill, highlight key difference with the Senate's bill, and preview the measure's prospects. Contact the BGOV podcast team at BGOVpodcast@bgov.com. Listen and subscribe to Suspending the Rules from your mobile device:  Via Apple Podcasts | Via Overcast | Via Stitcher| Via Spotify Hosts: Adam M. Taylor, Adam SchankEngineer: Nico Anzalotta

Just in time for the Fourth of July, the Senate's finished and passed its 2020 defense authorization bill. Before its 86-8 vote, the bill took on a few tweaks — 93 amendments, to be exact. Federal News Network's Scott Maucione joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the highlights.

The Senate this week will consider its fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, a must-pass piece of legislation that has been enacted for the last 58 consecutive years. The House advanced its version through committee last week over objections from Republicans, who want a larger topline budget figure and oppose provisions related to border funding and the naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. On this episode of Bloomberg Government's “Suspending the Rules” podcast, defense reporters Roxana Tiron and Travis Tritten dive into the bill and preview the sticking points among the Trump administration, the Republican-led Senate, and the Democratic majority in the House. Contact the BGOV podcast team at BGOVpodcast@bgov.com. Listen and subscribe to Suspending the Rules from your mobile device: Via Apple Podcasts | Via Overcast | Via Stitcher| Via Spotify Hosts: Adam M. Taylor, Danielle ParnassEngineer: Nico Anzalotta

The Senate Armed Services Committee is out with the 2020 Defense Authorization bill and it holds a host of reforms and new goodies for the Defense Department. The bill covers everything from the space force to the privatized on-base housing crisis. Federal News Network's Scott Maucione and Jared Serbu joined Federal Drive for a peek into what the bill holds.

It squished lowest-price technically acceptable, slices into procurement lead times and speeds up payments to small businesses. Like a benevolent angel, the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act is about to swoop down and improve life for contractors. David Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin on Federal News Radio to share his analysis.

The dispute between the government and cybersecurity software vendor Kaspersky Lab took a series of turns over the last few weeks. They've left the executive and legislative branch bans on Kaspersky in danger of being overturned. Kaspersky filed a second lawsuit in Washington, D.C. district court to overturn the provision in the 2018 Defense Authorization bill that prohibits federal agencies from using the company's products or services. Federal News Radio's Jason Miller joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss the details.

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees finished conferring over the 2018 Defense Authorization bill. It authorizes nearly $700 billion for defense next year. Federal News Radio's Scott Maucione joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin with the details.

The Attorney General and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security are the most powerful domestic law enforcement officers in the United States government. In this episode, hear critical highlights from the confirmation hearings of President Trump's nominees for those jobs: Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General and General John Kelly for Secretary of DHS. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute with PayPal or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD098: USA Freedom Act: Privatization of the Patriot Act Sound Clip Sources Hearing: Attorney General Nomination, Senate Committee on the Judicary, January 10, 2017 Watch on C-SPAN Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Timestamps & Transcripts Part 1 1:12:10 Senator Chuck Grassley: During the course of the presidential campaign, you made a number of statements about the investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, relating to her handling of sensitive emails and regarding certain actions of the Clinton Foundation. You weren’t alone in that criticism—I was certainly critical in the same way, as were millions of Americans, on those matters—but now you’ve been nominated to serve as Attorney General. In light of those comments that you made, some have expressed concern about whether you can approach the Clinton matter impartially in both fact and appearance. How do you plan to address those concerns? Jeff Sessions Mr. Chairman, it was a highly contentious campaign. I, like a lot of people, made comments about the issues in that campaign with regard to Secretary Clinton, and some of the comments I made, I do believe that that could place my objectivity in question. I’ve given that thought. I believe the proper thing for me to do would be to recuse myself from any questions involving those kind of investigations that involve Secretary Clinton that were raised during the campaign or could be otherwise connected to it. Sen. Grassley: Okay. I think it’s—let me emphasize, then, with a followup question. To be very clear, you intend to recuse yourself from both the Clinton email investigation, any matters involving the Clinton Foundation, if there are any. Sessions: Yes 1:22:55 Senator Diane Feinstein: Appearing on the TV show 60 Minutes, the president-elect said that the issue of same-sex marriage was “already settled. It’s law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. It’s done, and I’m fine with that.” Do you agree that the issue of same-sex marriage is settled law? Jeff Sessions: Supreme Court has ruled on that. The dissents dissented vigorously, but it was five to four, and five justices on the Supreme Court—a majority of the court—have established the definition of marriage for the entire United States of America, and I will follow that decision. 1:30:05 Senator Orrin Hatch: In the 108th Congress, you introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 77, expressing the sense of the Congress that federal obscenity laws should be vigorously enforced throughout the United States. It passed the Senate unanimously—it pleased it, too. In fact, it is the only resolution on this subject ever passed by either the Senate or the House. Now, Senator Sessions, with your permission I want to share with you that resolution adopted last year by the Utah legislature outlining why pornography should be viewed as a public health problem, as well as some of the latest research into the harms of obscenity. Is it still your view that federal laws prohibiting adult obscenity should be vigorously enhanced? Jeff Sessions: Mr. Chairman, those laws are clear, and they are being prosecuted today and should be—continue to be effectively and vigorously prosecuted in the cases that are appropriate. Sen. Hatch: In making this a priority for the Justice Department, would you consider reestablishing a specific unit dedicated to prosecuting this category of crime? Sessions: So, that unit has been disbanded—I’m not sure I knew that, but it was a part of the Department of Justice for a long time, and I would consider that. 1:49:40 Senator Patrick Leahy: Do you agree with the president-elect, the United States can or should deny entry to all members of a particular religion? Jeff Sessions: Senator Leahy, I believe the president-elect has, subsequent to that statement, made clear that he believes the focus should be on individuals coming from countries that have history of terrorism, and he’s also indicated that his policy, and what he suggests, is strong vetting of people from those countries before they’re admitted to the United States. 1:55:35 Senator Lindsey Graham: What’s your view of Obama’s administration’s interpretation of the Wire Act law to allow online video poker, or poker gambling? Jeff Sessions: Senator Graham, I was shocked at the memorandum, I guess the enforcement memorandum, that the Department of Justice issued with regard to the Wire Act and criticized it. Apparently, there is some justification or argument that can be made to support the Department of Justice’s position, but I did oppose it when it happened, and it seemed to me to be an unusual— Graham: Would you revisit it? Sessions: I would revisit it, and I would make a decision about it based on careful study. 2:12:55 Senator Dick Durbin: Senator Graham asked this question, and I listened to your answer when he asked you what would happen to those 800,000 currently protected by President Obama’s executive order, known as DACA, who cannot be deported for two years—it’s renewable—and can work for two years, and you said, let Congress pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill. You opposed the only bipartisan effort that we’ve had on the Senate floor in modern memory. And what’s going to happen to those 800,000, if you revoke that order and they are subject to deportation tomorrow, what is going to happen to them? What is the humane, legal answer to that? Jeff Sessions: Well, the first thing I would say is that my response to Senator Graham dealt with whose responsibility this is. I had a responsibility as a member of this body to express my view and vote as I believed was correct on dealing with issues of immigration. That’s not the attorney general’s role; the attorney general’s role is to enforce the law. And as you know, Senator Durbin, we’re not able financially or any other way to seek out and remove everybody that’s in the country illegally. President Trump has indicated that criminal aliens, like President Obama indicated, certainly are the top group of people, and so I would think that the best thing for us to do—and I would urge colleagues that we understand this—let’s fix this system. And then we can work together, after this lawlessness has been ended, and then we can ask the American people and enter into a dialogue about how to compassionately treat people who’ve been here a long time. Durbin: That does not answer the question about 800,000 who would be left in the lurch, whose lives would be ruined while you’re waiting on Congress for a bill that you opposed. Sessions: Well, I thought it did answer it pretty closely about what you asked, and I understand your concerns. 2:31:10 Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: As a question of law, does waterboarding constitute torture? Jeff Sessions: Well, there was a dispute about that when we had the torture definition in our law. The Department of Justice memorandum concluded that it did not necessarily prohibit that, but Congress has taken an action now that makes is absolutely improper and illegal to use waterboarding or any other form of torture in the United States by our military and by all our other departments and agencies. 2:54:50 Senator Amy Klobuchar: If you could just explain your views of the Voting Rights Act moving forward and what would happen in terms of enforcement if you were attorney general. Jeff Sessions: The Voting Rights Act that passed in 1965 was one of the most important acts to deal with racial difficulties that we face, and it changed the whole course of history, particularly in the South. There was a clear finding that there were discriminatory activities in the South that a number of states were systematically denying individuals the right to vote. And you go back into the history, you can see it plainly: actions and rules and procedures were adopted in a number of states, with the specific purpose of blocking African Americans from voting, and it was just wrong, and the Voting Rights Act confronted that. And it, in effect, targeted certain states and required any, even the most minor, changes in voting procedure, like moving a precinct across— Klobuchar: So, how would you approach this going forward? For instance, the Fifth Circuit’s decision that the Texas voter ID law discriminates against minority voters, that was written by a Bush appointee, do you agree with that decision? How would you handle this moving forward? Sessions: Well, I have not studied that. There’s going to be a debate about it, courts are ruling on it now, and that is a voter ID and whether or not that is an improper restriction on voting that adversely impacts disproportionately minority citizens. So that’s a matter that’s got to be decided. On the surface of it, it doesn’t appear to me to be that. I have publicly said I think voter ID laws properly drafted are okay, but as attorney general it’ll be my duty to study the facts in more depth to analyze the law, but fundamentally, that can be decided by Congress and the courts. 3:10:33 Senator Ben Sasse: This administration has made the case regularly that they need to exercise prosecutorial discretion because of limited resources—and, obviously, there aren’t infinite resources in the world—so what are some proper instances, in your view, when an administration might not enforce a law? Jeff Sessions:Well, critics of the immigration enforcement, the DAPA and the DACA laws, said that the prosecutorial-discretion argument went too far. It basically just eliminated the laws from the books. Secondly, with regard to that, the president’s executive—well, the order came from homeland security, not from the Department of Justice, but homeland security’s order not only said we’re not going to force the law, with regard to certain large classifications of people, but those people who’d not been given legal status under the laws of the United States were given photo IDs, work authorization, and social security numbers, and the right to participate in these government programs that would appear to be contrary to existing law. So that would, to me, suggest an overreach. Part 2 1:19:12 Senator Patrick Leahy: Would you use our federal resources to investigate and prosecute sick people who are using marijuana in accordance with their state laws even though it might violate federal law? Jeff Sessions: Well, I won’t commit to never enforcing federal law, Senator Leahy, but absolutely it’s a problem of resources for the federal government. The Department of Justice under Lynch and Holder set forth some policies that they thought were appropriate to define what cases should be prosecuted in states that have legalized, at least in some fashion, some parts of marijuana. Leahy: Do you agree with those guidelines? Sessions: I think some of them are truly valuable in evaluating cases, but fundamentally, the criticism I think that was legitimate is that they may not have been followed. Using good judgment about how to handle these cases will be a responsibility of mine. I know it won’t be an easy decision, but I will try to do my duty in a fair and just way. 1:25:13 Senator Mike Lee: Are there separation-of-powers concerns arising out of the Department of Justice’s current approach to state marijuana laws? Jeff Sessions: Well, I think one obvious concern is that the United States Congress has made the possession of marijuana, in every state, and distribution of it an illegal act. If that’s something is not desired any longer, Congress should pass a law to change the rule. It’s not so much the attorney general’s job to decide what laws to enforce; we should do our job and enforce laws effectively as we’re able. 1:48:18 Senator Dianne Feinstein: Thanks very much, Mr. Chairman. Just to begin, I would like to ask unanimous consent that all statements and written testimony sent to the committee concerning Senator Sessions be made part of the record, and I have some testimonies and letters. Chairman: Without objection, so ordered. Feinstein: Thank you very much. Senator Sessions, when I was a small child, it was during World War II, and my father took me to a racetrack south of San Francisco called Tanforan, and it had become a detention camp for Japanese American citizens, and during the length of World War II, well, thousands of families were held in this compound. And we checked with CRS that says no Japanese American was ever convicted of any sabotage against the United States during that period of time. Senator Lee, Senator Cruz, and I have tried together to enact a bill to assure that no American citizen or lawful permanent resident detained in the United States can be held indefinitely without charge or trial, pursuant to authorization of military force. So, here’s the question: do you believe that the government can, pursuant to a general authorization to use military force, indefinitely detain Americans in the United States without charge or trial? Jeff Sessions: Senator Feinstein, that’s an important question. Classically, the answer is yes. Classically, if you captured a German soldier, they could be held until the war ended. That was done, I’m sure, at the Civil War and most wars since. Feinstein: I’m talking about Americans. Sessions: I hear you. So, then, the question is, we’re in a war like we have now that’s gone on multiple years, and I would think the principal of law certainly would appear to be valid, but as reality dawns on us and wars might be even longer, it’s on us to discuss those issues. So I respect your willingness to think about that and what we should do, but in general I do believe, as Senator Graham has argued forcefully for many years, that we are in a war, and when members who—unlike the Japanese who were never proven to be associated with a military regime like the Japanese government, these individuals would have to be proven to be connected to a designated enemy of the United States. So I’ve probably explained more than I should, but that’s basically the arguments and the issues we’re facing. I respect your concerns, and I’m sure they will continue to be debated in the future. Feinstein: Well, let me just say a few things about that. I’ve served on the intelligence committee for fifteen years. I read all of it. I think I know as much as anybody about what’s happening in the United States, and this is not—these are Americans that we’re talking about. They can be picked up and detained and held without charge— Sessions: You’re talking about Americans. Feinstein: —of trial indefinitely. And that should not be the case. Sessions: Well, I understand your point, and a citizen of the United States has certain important rights. They cannot be abrogated. It is absolutely so. They cannot be detained without undergoing a habeas review, and the government surely has to prove that they are indeed connected sufficiently with an enemy action against the United States, so they couldn’t be detained. Feinstein: Well, I appreciate that. 1:52:32 Senator Dianne Feinstein: You were one of nine senators to vote against the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. It prohibited the imposition of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of any person in the custody or control of U.S. personnel. You also voted against an amendment sponsored by Senator McCain in the 2016 Defense Authorization bill to limit interrogations to the techniques provided by the army field manual, which does not include waterboarding. Do you agree that the CIA’s former enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, are prohibited by this provision of law as now codified at 42 U.S.C. 2000dd? Jeff Sessions: It does appear to be clear that on the last act and McCain amendment would prohibit waterboarding. Feinstein:And you would enforce that. Sessions: I would enforce the law, yes. Feinstein: Thank you very much. 1:56:50 Senator John Kennedy: My name is John Kennedy. That’s really my name. 2:01:33 Senator John Kennedy: When a radical Islamic terrorist drives a truck into a group of people and kills them, we’re told that we should not judge all Muslims by the act of a few. And I agree with that. Don’t you think the same rule ought to apply when one or two law enforcement officers make a mistake? Don’t you think that same rule ought to apply to all the other 99.9 percent law enforcement officials out there who just get up every day and go to work and try to protect us? Jeff Sessions: Well, I really do. And I think those of us in high public office do need to be cautious about demeaning whole departments and whole groups of people, because within those, most any department you can find in America, surely most of the people are just wonderful public servants trying to do the right thing. So when we say these things, we can increase risk for them, we can make it harder for them to have relationships with the constituents where they’re serving, and actually result in an increase in crime and ineffectiveness in law enforcement. So, boy, these issues are—we can’t miss these issues. Kennedy: No. Part 3 3:20 Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: Does a secular attorney have anything to fear from an Attorney General Sessions in the Department of Justice? Jeff Sessions: Well, no, and I used that word in the ninety-thousand-foot level of a little concern I have that we as a nation, I believe, are reaching a level in which truth is not sufficiently respected, that the very ideal, the idea, of truth is not believed to be real, and that all of life is just a matter of your perspective and my perspective, which I think is contrary to the American heritage. So that’s just a kind of a criticism of mine, but we are not a theocracy, nobody should be required to believe anything. I share Thomas Jefferson’s words on the Memorial over here—I swear eternal hostility over any domination of the mind of man—and I think we should respect people’s views and not demand any kind of religious test for holding office. Whitehouse: And a secular person has just as good a claim to understanding the truth as a person who is religious, correct? Sessions: Well, I’m not sure. In what method? Is it less objectively committed to— Whitehouse: In the methods that an attorney would bring to bear a case. Sessions: Well, let me just say we’re going to treat anybody with different views fairly and objectively. 59:04 Senator Chris Coons: We worked together to restore funding to the federal public defender service when it was cut by sequestration, and I think that’s because we both agreed that outcomes are more fair when there’s effective representation on both sides. One of the amendments I offered to that immigration bill would have provided counsel to children who were applying for refugee status because they were fleeing violence in their home countries, in U.S. immigration proceedings. Is that something you would support? Jeff Sessions: Senator Coons, as I understand it, that is the law, that you cannot provide lawyers to illegal entrants into the country, and I don’t believe it makes a distinguished—it distinguishes between minors and adults, but I may be wrong about that. I presume that’s why you’ve offered legislation to that effect to change established law, but in general I do not believe we can afford nor should we undertake to provide free lawyers for everybody that enters the country unlawfully. I think that would be a massive undertaking. So you’re talking about children specifically, I understand that. Coons: Specifically doesn’t matter... Sessions: And I think that’s a matter that Congress would need to decide what to do about. 1:02:25 Jeff Sessions: I would not favor a registry of Muslims in the United States—no, I would not—and I think we should avoid surveillance of religious institutions unless there’s a basis to believe that a dangerous or threatening illegal activity could be carried on there. 1:28:03 Senator Lindsey Graham: Let’s talk about the law of war. I think you were asked by Senator Feinstein about the indefinite detention. Hamdi v. Rumsfeld—this is Sandra Day O’Connor’s quote: There is no bar to this nation’s holding one of its own citizens as an enemy combatant—that case involved a U.S. citizen that was captured in Afghanistan and was held as an enemy combatant. Are you familiar with that case? Jeff Sessions: Generally, yes. Not as familiar as you, but I know you’ve studied at great depth. Graham: Well, this has been a military law. This is sort of part of what I did. Do your constitutional rights as a U.S. citizen stop at the nation’s shores, or do they follow you wherever you go? Sessions: Well, you have certain rights wherever you go. Graham: So if you go to Paris, you don’t give up your Fourth Amendment right against illegal search and seizure. Could the FBI break into your hotel room in Paris and, basically, search your room without a warrant? Sessions:I don’t believe— Graham :No, they can’t. Your constitutional rights attach to you. So, to the people who say, well, he was in Afghanistan—that doesn’t matter. What the court is telling us, no American citizen has a constitutional right to join the enemy at a time of war. In Ray Quirin—that case involved German saboteurs who landed in Long Island. Are you familiar with this? Sessions: I’m very familiar with that case. I have read it. Graham: They were German saboteurs and had American-citizen contacts in the United States. They were all seized by the FBI and tried by the military. So, what I would tell Senator Feinstein and my other colleagues—the law is well settled here, that a United States citizen in other wars have been held as enemy combatants when the evidence suggests they collaborated with the enemy. Under the current law, if you’re suspected of being an enemy combatant, within a certain period of time—sixty days, I think—the government has to present you to a federal judge and prove by preponderance of the evidence that you’re a member of the organization they claim you to be a member of. Are you familiar with that—your habeas rights? Sessions: Correct, yes. Graham: So, as to how long an enemy combatant can be held, traditionally under the law of war, people are taken off the battlefield until the war is over or they’re no longer a danger. Does that make sense to you? Sessions: It does make sense, and that is my understanding of the traditional law of war. Graham: And the law of war is designed to, like, win the war. The laws around the law of war are designed to deal with conflicts and to take people off the battlefield—you can kill or capture them—and there’s no requirement like domestic criminal law, at a certain point in time they have to be presented for trial, because the goal of the law of war is to protect the nation and make sure you win the war. So when you capture somebody who’s been adjudicated a member of the enemy force, there is no concept in military law or the law of war that you have to release them in an arbitrary date because that would make no sense. So, all I’m saying is that I think you’re on solid ground and this idea of an American citizen being an enemy combatant is part of the history of the law of war, and I am very willing to work with my colleagues and make sure that indefinite detention is reasonably applied and that we can find due process rights that don’t exist in traditional law of war because this is a war without end. When do you think this war will be over? Do you think we’ll know when it’s over? Sessions: I’ve asked a number of witnesses in armed services about that, and it’s pretty clear we’re talking about decades before we have a complete alteration of this spasm in the Middle East that just seems to have legs and will continue for some time. That’s most likely what would happen. Graham: You’re about to embark on a very important job at an important time, and here’s what my suggestion would be: that we work with the Congress to come up with a legal regime that recognizes that gathering intelligence is the most important activity against radical Islam. The goal is to find out what they know. Do you agree with that? Sessions: That is a critical goal. Graham:And I have found that under military law and military intelligence gathering, no manual I’ve ever read suggested that reading Miranda rights is the best way to gather information. As a matter of fact, I’ve been involved in this business for 33 years, and if a commander came to me as a J.A.G. and said, we just captured somebody on the battlefield—you name the battlefield—they want their rights read to them, I would tell them they’re not entitled to Miranda rights. They’re entitled to Geneva Convention treatment, they’re entitled to humane treatment, they’re entitled to all the things that go with the Geneva Convention because the court has ruled that enemy combatants are subject to Geneva Convention protections. So, I just want to let you know, from my point of view, that we’re at war; I’m encouraged to hear that the new attorney general recognizes the difference between fighting a crime and fighting a war and that the next time we capture bin Laden’s son-in-law—if he’s got any more—I hope we don’t read him his Miranda rights in two weeks. I hope we keep him, humanely, as long as necessary to interrogate him to find out what the enemy may be up to. Does that make sense to you? Sessions:Well, it does. We didn’t give Miranda warnings to German and Japanese prisoners we captured, and it’s never been part of the—so they’re being detained and they’re subject to being interrogated properly and lawfully any time, any day, and they’re not entitled to a lawyer, and so forth. Graham: Right. And Miranda didn’t exist back in World War II, but it does now, but the law of the Hamdi case says this is very important, that you do not have to read an enemy combatant the Miranda rights. They do have a right to counsel in a habeas pursuit— Sessions: In a habeas corpus, you’re correct. Graham: —to see if the government got it right; you can hold them as long as it’s necessary for intelligence gathering; and you can try them in Article III course, you can try them in military commissions. As attorney general of the United States, would you accept that military commissions could be the proper venue under certain circumstances for terrorists? Sessions: Yes. Graham: Thank you. Hearing: Nomination of General John F. Kelly, USMC (Ret.) to be Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs, January 10, 2017. Watch on C-SPAN Timestamps & Transcripts 1:37:18 Senator Kamala Harris: I’d like to ask you a few questions, starting with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA. Hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients around the country are afraid right now for what this incoming administration might do to them and also what it might do to their unauthorized family members. In order to receive DACA, these young people submitted extensive paperwork to the federal government, including detailed information regarding themselves and their loved ones. They also had to qualify, as you know, for the program; and in qualifying, each person’s case was reviewed and determined on a case-by-case basis: the young person must have not been convicted of a felony or a significant misdemeanor or three or more misdemeanors; the young person must also not be deemed to pose a threat to national security or public safety; the young person must currently be in school, have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general-education development certificate, also known as GED, and/or have been honorably discharged as a veteran of the Coast Guard or armed forces of the United States. Among other things, DACA applicants must submit proof of identity, proof of time and admission in the United States, proof of relevant student school completion or military status, and biometric information. As part of the DACA application process, we conduct biometric and biographic background checks against a variety of databases maintained by DHS and other federal agencies. If a DACA applicant knowingly makes a misrepresentation or fails to disclose facts in an effort to obtain DACA, it is a felony, and the applicant will be treated as an immigration-enforcement priority to the fullest extent permitted by law and be subject to criminal prosecution and/or removal from the United States. This means, obviously, that applicants to DACA know that if they’re not giving us the whole truth about their story, they’re putting a target on their own backs. At the time, the Department of Homeland Security assure them that it would follow its long-standing practice of not using such information for law-enforcement purposes except in very limited circumstances. These young people are now worried that the information that they provided in good faith to our government may now be used to track them down and lead to their removal. So my question is, do you agree that under DACA, and those young people have relied—by hundreds of thousands of them have relied—on our representations, do you agree with that, that we would not use this information against them? General John Kelly: The entire development of immigration policy is ongoing right now in terms of the upcoming administration. I have not been involved in those discussions. If confirmed, I know I will be involved in those discussions. I think there’s a big spectrum of people who need to be dealt with in terms of deportation— Harris: I’m speaking specifically about DACA.General Kelly: —and those categories would be prioritized. I would guess—I’m not part of the process right now—I would guess that this category might not be the highest priority for removal. I promise you, Senator, that I will be involved in the discussion. 1:45:00 Senator Rand Paul: We have on the books, and we passed about five years ago, a law that says that an American citizen can be indefinitely detained—not an American citizen overseas, not someone captured in Syria on a battlefield. Someone captured in the United States and accused of terrorism—accused of terrorism—can be kept indefinitely. They could be sent to Guantanamo Bay, but they could be sent to a variety of places. It’s never been used—and this president has said he wouldn’t use it, but he signed it anyway, much to the chagrin of some of us—but it is on the books. And I guess my question to you would be, do you think we can adequately arrest people in our country who are somehow a threat to our homeland security? Do you think the Constitution could be good enough, that due process in our courts of law in our country would work? Or would you think there’re going to have to be times when we’re just going to have to detain people without trial? General John Kelly: I’m pretty committed to the Constitution. I was not aware of the law—it surprises me—but I think we have enough laws to help us out in that regard. Paul: A couple of years ago they decided they’d use license plate screeners, and, apparently, they’re very rapid and they can collect hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of license plates an hour. But they decided they would go to a gun show, and why this particularly concerns me is you could also conceive the people at a gun show as exercising some sort of freedom of speech or some sort of ideological belief by being at a gun show, not just wanting to buy a gun, but actually defending their Second Amendment right to buy a gun. What alarms me is that if we’re going to scan license plates at a gun show, that we might go to a pro-life rally or a pro-abortion rally, depending on who’s in charge. I don’t want the government scanning people’s license plates. I don’t want them covering and getting all of our data just so we can possibly be safe some day from something. I want the individual to be protected, but I’m not against Homeland Security going after individuals and digging as deep as you want with the proper process. So what I would ask you is your opinion on how do we defend the country? Can we do it with the traditions of looking at individuals for whom we have suspicion, or are we going to have to collect all of this data and give up our privacy in the process? General Kelly: Senator, I would go with the traditional route. The scanning of the license plates, I mean, may be a reason—I can’t think of one right now. I’m not for the mass collection of data on people. I’d go the other way. Paul: And this is an amazing amount of information we can look at. If you had all the information of everyone’s Visa purchases in the country, there’s no end. But realize that this is a big part of what your job is, is people are going to be coming to you saying, protect us; we want to be safe, but at the same time, what are we willing to give up? Can we keep what we actually believe and what we are as a people, the freedom that you are committed to as a soldier? And I hope you’ll keep that in mind. General Kelly: Sir. Paul: Thank you. 2:15:08 General John Kelly: My law-enforcement friends tell me that in the case of drugs that come in—frankly, I’m not arguing for legalization for marijuana here; I’m just saying that the only drugs I’ve really ever concerned myself with at SouthCom were the three hard drugs. All the marijuana flow that we saw was coming from some of the Caribbean islands, south. So I’d just focus on the hard drugs. Hearing: Is the Department of Justice Adequately Protecting the Public from the Impact of State Recreational Marijuana Legalization?, Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, April 05, 2016. Watch on YouTube Senate Session: Republican Senators on Surveillance Bill Reauthorization, May 15, 2015. Jeff Sessions speaks at 28:18 Senate Session: Jeff Sessions Mocks Karl Rove, June 21, 2013. Additional Reading Article: 10 Things You Didn't Know about Gen. John Kelly by Sara Clarke, US News, January 17, 2017. Article: 10 things to know about Sen. Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump's pick for Attorney General by Amber Phillips, The Washington Post, January 10, 2017. Article: Sessions failed to disclose oil interests as required, ethics experts say by Tom Hamburger, The Washington Post, January 9, 2017. Article: Trump picks retired General John Kelly to lead Homeland Security, report says by Ben Jacobs and Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian, December 7, 2016. Article: Bowe Bergdahl, Facing Desertion Trial, Asks Obama for Pardon by Charlie Savage, New York Times, December 2, 2016. Webpage: State Marijuana Laws in 2016 Map, Governing the States and Localities, November 11, 2016. Article: Gutting Habeas Corpus by Liliana Segura, The Intercept, May 4, 2016. Press Release: Senators Introduce Restoration of America's Wire Act, Senator Dianne Feinstein, June 24, 2015. Article: The Destruction of Defendant's Rights by Lincoln Caplan, The New Yorker, June 21, 2015. Commentary: The Wire Act Ñ Don't Fix What Isn't Broken by John Pappas, Roll Call, March 18, 2015. Article: Department Of Justice Flip-Flops On Internet Gambling by Nathan Vardi, Forbes, December 23, 2011. Article: Holder accused of neglecting porn by Josh Gerstein, Politico, April 16, 2011. Article: American Lawbreaking by Tim Wu, Slate, October 15, 2007. Justice Dept. Memo May 5, 2005. Supreme Court Opinion: Hamdi vs Rumsfeld by Justice O'Connor, Supreme Court, June 28, 2004. References Legal Dictionary at Cornell University: Habeas Corpus U.S. Code: Production and transportation of obscene matters for sale or distribution Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations

7/09/16- James Martinez discusses DARPA Defense Authorization Act of 2017 and the unleashing of LENS technology

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Nicole Sandler speaks with law professor Marjorie Cohn about Bradley Manning and wikileaks; with FL25 Democratic Congresional candidate Joe Garcia; and Lt. Dan Choi about today's cloture vote on the Defense Authorization bill that includes the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell

ICYMI, on Tuesday's we release our top stories of the week episode. The news-focused episode is dedicated to covering a few (not all) of the top political stories we have our eyes on. This week's round up of events include:Government FUNding, Defense Authorization, & Tax Extenders: https://bit.ly/3Y2u00g [Punchbowl]GA Runoff Expectations https://bit.ly/3P3jz8I [AP News]HBCU Students Face Voter Suppression in GA: https://bit.ly/3XWxIsq [NBC News]Respect For Marriage Act Passes: https://bit.ly/3BbHb5x [AP News]SCOTUS:Moore v. Harper on Weds: https://bit.ly/3VSudRV [AP News]Ben Sheehan Explainer Episode: https://apple.co/3VBqaJY The case of the Christian web designer: https://bit.ly/3F5MC73  [AP News]Action Item - Pledge to prevent Trump presidency 2.0: https://bit.ly/3tVkz5a**This action item is sponsored by Adam Schiff for CongressShop Girl and the Gov® x Social Goods: https://bit.ly/3xE6PxT#VIRAL by Girl and the Gov®: https://www.girlandthegov.com/newsletterBrand Ambassador Program: https://www.girlandthegov.com/the-ambassadors Fall/Winter Internship: https://www.girlandthegov.com/careers Shop our Etsy Store: https://etsy.me/3AyhGLTFollow us on social media:Instagram: @girlandthegov and @girlandthegovthepodcastTikTok: @girlandthegovYouTube: @girlandthegovLinkedIn: @girlandthegovPinterest: @girlandthegovAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy