Introduction of Identification Friend or Foe Legislation

INTRODUCTION OF IDENTIFICATION FRIEND OR FOE LEGISLATION -- (Extensions of Remarks - October 16, 2007)

---

SPEECH OF
HON. KENDRICK B. MEEK
OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2007

* Mr. MEEK of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation that will stop the selling of our U.S. servicemembers' safety.

* Between August and October of 2006, 4,800 used combat uniforms bearing ``glo-tape'' patches were inadvertently sold despite a determination by a Defense Department office in July of that year that the patches had to be removed and destroyed before such uniforms could be put on sale. A year later less than 350 of the uniforms and patches have been returned. The availability of these items on the black market has the potential to cost U.S. military lives.

* Glo-tape patches and other military items designated as ``Identification Friend or Foe (IFF)'' are specifically designed to allow members of our armed services to easily identify each other in poor lighting and certain other inclement conditions.

* In the hands of the enemy, these patches could allow for infiltration into our ranks, as happened in January of this year when insurgents dressed in U.S. military uniforms in Karbala entered a secure compound killing one serviceman and abducting four others.

* IFF items are listed by the military as items that are required to be completely demilitarized, and are not to be sold to the public. Yet, there is currently no enforcement procedure to ensure that persons illegally in possession of these items return them to the Department of Defense.

* An investigation in July of 2007 by Newsweek magazine determined that IFF items were easily obtained at retailers in several areas of the United States without consequence (See article following).

* I have introduced legislation that will protect our men and women from those whose reckless acts would cause them harm. First, the bill codifies into law that it is illegal to possess, purchase, or sell Identification Friend or Foe items. The bill further requires the Department to provide notice anywhere that the Department authorizes the private sale of surplus or used military items that the possession, purchase, or sale of IFF items, original or counterfeit, is punishable by law.

* Secondly, the bill makes it a Class B Misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail per incident, to possess these items or transact business related to the items. It would also be a crime to counterfeit these items for personal or retail use.

* We can and should do everything in power to protect our men and women in uniform by removing any advantage the enemy might seek to gain. Please join me in making the selling of our servicemembers' safety a crime.[From Newsweek, July 16, 2007]

THE MILITARY: A DANGEROUS PATCH

The Pentagon prides itself on the ability of U.S. combat units to operate under cover of darkness. But that advantage could be eroded if a key item--infrared patches that troops use to ID each other at night--were to fall into the wrong hands.

According to a Defense Department spokesman, 4,800 used combat uniforms bearing ``glo-tape'' patches were inadvertently sold to U.S. and Canadian clients of an Arizona-based company between August and October 2006--despite a Defense Department determination in July of that year that the patches had to be removed and destroyed before such uniforms could be put on sale. When the oversight was discovered, the Pentagon ordered the company, Government Liquidation, to return 1,200 garments containing the infrared patches that were still in its possession. (A company spokeswoman says the Pentagon did not notify Government Liquidation of any restrictions on the sale of the glo-tape items prior to October of last year, and a senior Defense Department official said the company did not violate any existing clause of its contract with the Pentagon when it was selling the glo-tape uniforms.)

The Pentagon imposed a blanket ban on the sale of combat fatigues this past February after Iraqi insurgents in U.S. combat uniforms entered a government security compound and killed five soldiers. But individual patches can still be easily obtained--as Newsweek reporters learned last month when they purchased several patches at military supply stores in Jacksonville, N.C., and Oceanside, Calif., without being asked to produce military ID. More than 4,000 of the patchbearing used uniforms are still at large, according to senior Pentagon official Paul Peters.

The U.S. Army began issuing combat fatigues bearing the glo-tape patches after a friendly-fire incident in the first week of the Iraq invasion that may have contributed to the deaths of 10 Marines. Known as IFF (Identification Friend or Foe), they come in various shapes and sizes that include U.S. flags; they can be detected at night by ground troops and airborne combat pilots equipped with night-vision goggles. No law forbids civilian surplus stores in the United States from selling the items, a fact that one Marine corporal finds alarming. ``If you're moving around in the dark and you see someone with infrared patches, you won't be as on guard as you would be with somebody without those patches;' says Jeremy Terhune, 26, an infantry rifleman from Saugus, Calif., who has served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. No evidence has yet surfaced that insurgents in Iraq or Afghanistan have acquired the patches.

Source