National Defense Authorization Act of 2009

National Defense Authorization Act of 2009

Last week, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 389 to 22. It is a bipartisan bill that provides our troops with the key funding needed to succeed in our mission in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While I am pleased that aid is on the way to our troops, I am disappointed as to what is not in this bill. Unfortunately, my colleagues and I were not able to have the opportunity to take a stance on an issue that is very important to the safety of our troops, an amendment that our friends in the Senate voted unanimously in favor of: the release of the detainee photographs to our enemies abroad.

After listening to our commanders on the ground, General Petraeus and General Odierno, President Obama also decided that it is in everyone's best interest to keep these photos out of the hands of our enemies. These photos will, without a doubt, put American troops in danger, be used as a recruiting tool by Islamic Jihadists, and, in my opinion, could be used by President Ahmadinejad to turn the pro-democracy protests going on in Iran against the United States.

We need a legislative fix that will prevent the release of these photographs into the public arena, and my amendment, which is an exact replica of the one in the Senate, would allow these photos to be properly protected. There is no good reason to release these photographs, and I wish the Rules Committee would have allowed debate on this issue.

With that said, I believe that the support for our men and women in uniform is paramount, and I am pleased that we were able to craft a bipartisan bill that will ensure that their needs are met and the Department of Defense can carry out its mission of ensuring national security.