Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015

Floor Speech

Mr. GRAYSON. Madam Chair, I rise to thank Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith for agreeing to include three of my amendments into this en bloc package. Those amendments are numbered ``43'', ``81'', and ``140'', respectively.

Grayson Amendment No. 43 will reinsert a worthwhile provision from the introduced version of H.R. 4435, requested by the Department of Defense, that was omitted from the bill text marked up in committee.

This amendment provides the authority and discretion necessary to return personal property that is retained as evidence in connection with an investigation into a sexual assault involving a member of the Armed Forces.

After the conclusion of all legal, adverse action, and administrative proceedings related to an incident, should a victim desire to have certain personal belongings returned to him or her, our Armed Forces will now have the ability to fulfill that request.

As we all know, one of the primary goals of the American judicial system is to produce outcomes that will ``make the victim whole.'' Sometimes, Madam Chair, one important thing that we can offer a victim is to return items that he or she may cherish, which may have been confiscated as evidence during the course of an investigation.

Let me be clear--this amendment is not intended to provide any new privileges to any perpetrator of a sexual assault. I am offering this amendment today to provide victims an opportunity to reclaim those items that are important to them.

It was good policy when this bill was introduced, and it is good policy now.

Grayson Amendment No. 81 will prohibit the Department of Defense from contracting with entities convicted of using ``Made in America'' labels fraudulently.

The current law governing this issue can be found at 10 U.S.C. 2410f. It states very clearly that if a person is convicted of intentionally affixing a label bearing a ``Made in America'' inscription, then the Secretary of Defense has the discretion not to debar that person from contracting with the Department of Defense.

Madam Chair, if we are going to put laws on the books to address an issue, they should mean something. We, the Members of this body, should make our intent clear. If someone purposely misrepresents an item as being ``Made in America'', and he is convicted of that crime--he does not get the benefit of securing contracts with our Armed Forces.

My amendment accomplishes that goal. It requires debarment of the entities outlined above, while at the same time allowing the Secretary of Defense a narrow national security exception, which should be used only in the most extreme circumstances.

This amendment makes good sense. It protects American businesses, and appropriately punishes those who have the audacity to claim that a product has been ``Made in America'' when it has not.

I'd be remiss at this time, if I did not thank my good friend, Representative Carol Shea-Porter from the great state of New Hampshire. She has been discussing the idea of this amendment with me at least since February, and she was integral in its drafting and securing the support of her colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee. For that I am grateful--thank you again, Representative Shea-Porter for all of your hard work in support of this amendment.

Finally, Madam Chair, Grayson Amendment No. 140 will extend the current United States Space Protection Strategy by an additional five-year period--until 2030.

In the 2008 NDAA, Congress required that a greater priority be put on the protection of national security space systems. It directed the Secretary of Defense, in conjunction with the Director of National Intelligence, to develop a strategy for the development of capabilities that are necessary to ensure freedom of action in space for the United States.

The strategy, which is outlined in the notes to 10 U.S.C. 2271, is required to cover fiscal years 2008 through 2013; 2014 through 2019; and 2020 through 2025. My amendment, recognizing that the first five-year covered period has lapsed, simply requires an additional five-year period--2026 through 2030.

I am proud that this amendment will still be in force when my nine-year-old sons have grown into adults. This amendment will protect not just the United States' position in space, but also their physical well-being.

Madam Chair, again, I thank Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith for agreeing to include all three of these amendments in this en bloc package. I believe these amendments make America not only a safer place, but a better place.

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