Blunt introduces amendments to NDAA

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) recently introduced a number of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014.

“Our men and women in uniform and their families make tremendous sacrifices to protect our freedoms,” Blunt said. “I hope the Senate will have the opportunity to vote on these important amendments as we move forward with this bill and work to give our armed forces the resources they need to meet their critical mission of defending our nation.”

One of the amendments, the Article 32 Reform Amendment, is a bipartisan effort to prevent victims of sexual assault in the military from being subjected to abusive questioning during pretrial interrogations. It would also ensure that victims are not dissuaded from reporting an assault.

The A-10 Warthog Amendment would restrict the Air Force’s ability to retire A-10 aircraft until it can be proven that there are enough F-35A aircraft in the fleet to replace them and that the F-35A achieve full operational capability. The Government Accountability Office would be required to confirm that the Air Force’s certification is “comprehensive, fully supported and sufficiently detailed.”

Another amendment would protect small businesses from certain federal regulations when they subcontract with the Department of Defense and ensure that the Small Business Act applies to them.

Other amendments address foreign affairs, including ensuring religious freedom in Asia, putting measures in place to prevent corruption in Afghanistan and removing the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan from the list of tier three terrorist organizations.