The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged defense authorization bill

Dems Who Voted Down 2007 Immigration Reform Are Undecided on DREAM Act

By | 09.20.10 | 1:05 pm

When a comprehensive immigration reform bill failed in 2007, eight Democrats voted to kill it. The Hill reported today some of these senators may again help to block immigration reform legislation: Five of the Democrats who voted “no” in 2007 are unsure how they will vote on the More…

Obama Meets With Menendez, Gutierrez and Velazquez on Immigration

By | 09.16.10 | 5:48 pm

President Obama again pledged his support for the DREAM Act during a meeting today with Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Reps. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) and Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), reportedly promising he will talk to senators to encourage them to vote for the act as part of More…

Obama Renews Call for Immigration Reform, Still Without a Timetable

By | 09.16.10 | 9:02 am

Obama promised immigration reform in 2008, and immigrants rights advocates have not forgotten that he broke his promise. The president attempted to play damage control yesterday at a dinner for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, blaming Republicans for the lack of reform legislation.

The DREAM Act and National Security

By | 09.16.10 | 8:50 am

Some senators balked at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to attach the DREAM Act, a measure that would help some students become legal residents, to the defense authorization bill. It may have been a political move, but the DREAM Act does have something to do with defense: More…

Senators Gripe About DREAM Act, Will Likely Still Vote for Defense Bill

By | 09.15.10 | 4:34 pm

Some Republican senators, along with centrist Democrats, aren’t happy with Harry Reid’s decision to slip the DREAM Act into a defense authorization bill up for a vote next week — and they are arguing it could kill the bill, although none have explicitly said they plan to vote More…

Reid: DREAM Act Will be Added to Defense Authorization Bill

By | 09.14.10 | 4:15 pm

Good news for DREAM Act supporters: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced today the act will be added as an amendment to the defense authorization bill. The bill would provide paths to citizenship for some undocumented students who came to the U.S. as children.

Skelton Dares Obama to Veto Defense Bill With ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ Second F-35 Engine

By | 06.08.10 | 2:19 pm

As I wrote last month, the House’s version of the defense bill has a provision that could jeopardize a hard-won effort to repeal the military’s ban on open gay service: a second engine for the F-35 fighter jet. Obama has publicly threatened to veto the bill because of the More…

Gates Reiterates Defense Bill Veto Threat, But Not Because of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

By | 05.25.10 | 7:23 pm

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal provisions about to be inserted into the fiscal year 2011 defense authorization bill are getting all the attention. But don’t forget that the bill is a venue for a much different showdown between the Pentagon and Congress. Defense Secretary Robert Gates certainly hasn’t.

More F-22 Backstory: Shortchanging the COIN Fight?

By | 07.16.09 | 12:41 pm

Building on yesterday’s announcement that Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) didn’t have the votes to strip funding for the Air Force’s F-22 fighter jet from the defense authorization bill, here’s an Air Force captain providing some really useful context — namely, the Air Force’s problems with adjusting to a More…