Conference Report On H.R. 2647, National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. POSEY. Mr. Speaker, this is a sad day in the House of Representatives. The Majority chose to add to the defense bill a totally unrelated and highly controversial bill, commonly called the Thought Crimes Bill or the Hate Crimes bill. There are serious concerns that religious leaders promoting traditional morality may be subject to potential criminal liability under this bill as prosecutors blur the line between what constitutes a ``hate crime'' and what they deem hate speech. Last minute changes to the Thought Crimes bill stripped important religious freedom protections and constitute further abuse of power. While no one should condone acts of hatred toward others, this bill goes far beyond its stated purpose.

To airdrop this totally unrelated legislation onto a bill that authorizes our national defense budget is a travesty and abuse of power in the highest degree.

Adding vague unrelated provisions that are likely to be proven unconstitutional to the defense bill is more than inappropriate. I have joined many of my colleagues in sending a letter to the President expressing our concerns, stating ``Each of us takes very seriously the responsibility to ensure the men and women who volunteer to serve in our Armed Forces have the resources they need to defend this nation. Using our troops to pass divisive social policy does a profound disservice to them, this institution, and the constituents we serve.''

Fortunately, this bill is not the last word on national defense this year, and we will soon have before us the Defense Appropriations bill--the bill that actually provides funding for our troops. Congressional leaders should resist the urge to again engage in such abuses of power.

I am introducing legislation today that will block the House from engaging in such behaviors in the future. My bill will bring some common sense to this place by ending the practice of merging totally unrelated bills in secret conference committees. Separate issues should be kept separate.

It is also troubling that once again, the Majority failed to give Members of Congress and the public at least 72 hours to understand how $680 billion in taxpayer dollars are being spent. What last minute earmarks were included in the 2,200 page bill? No one knows!

I am also disappointed with several shortcomings in the bill. The bill fails to include provisions to guarantee that Guantanamo Bay terrorist detainees will not be sent to the United States. At a time when Iran is advancing its nuclear and missile technology programs, the bill unwisely cuts over $1.2 billion from our national Missile Defense program. While there is also much good in this bill, I am glad that we will still have an opportunity to vote on the actual spending bill in the next few weeks. I would urge the Majority to resist the temptation to lard up that bill with last minute airdropped earmarks or play politics with our troops by adding extraneous liberal social policies.

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