NHDP - ICYMI: Sen. Shaheen's Amendment Passes Senate in "Historic Bipartisan Vote"

Abortion For Military Rape Victims Amendment Passes Senate

In a historic bipartisan vote on Tuesday, the Senate passed Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's (D-N.H.) amendment to the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act that would extend abortion insurance coverage to victims of rape in the military. If the House of Representatives decides to include the measure in its version of the defense bill, military servicewomen who have become pregnant from rape will no longer have to pay out of pocket for an abortion procedure for the first time since 1981.

Army veteran Ayana Harrell, 34, has been closely watching the progress of the amendment. Harrell says she was drugged and gang-raped in February 2001 by a group of soldiers and Marines at the Redstone Arsenal base in Huntsville, Ala. It took her three months to drum up the courage to report the rape, she says, because she had been trained to believe that soldiers are not allowed to feel or behave like victims. By the time Harrell told her senior drill sergeant what had happened, she had discovered that she was pregnant from the assault.

"The only thing he said to me was, 'This is your thing. I don't want to hear it. You need to deal with it however you're gonna deal with it. Go off post and get an abortion,'" Harrell told The Huffington Post in an interview.

Harrell says she made an appointment at a local Alabama abortion clinic, but ended up backing out of the procedure in part because she couldn't afford the "$200-something" fee. If she had been a civilian employee of the federal government, a recipient of Medicare or Medicaid, or even incarcerated in a federal prison, her insurance plan would have paid for her abortion. But military servicewomen receive health care and insurance through the Department of Defense's Military Health System, which is prohibited by law from covering abortions except when a woman's life is in danger.

"It shouldn't be that a woman joins the military and she loses her rights to make choices about her body," she said, "or that she has to make the choice to foot the bill out of her pocket for something that wasn't her choice in the first place."

Sen. Shaheen told The Huffington Post that the issue of fairness for military women -- not the abortion rights issue -- is the reason for her amendment, and the argument she is making to her Republican colleagues in the House. Regardless of whether certain members have an ideological opposition to abortion, she says, military women should be given the same level of health care coverage as civilians after they have been sexually assaulted.

"It's simply unfair that we've singled out the women who are putting their lives on the line in the military," she said. "We have young women who are starting out making $18,000 a year, and they just are not able to deal with this situation on the private side when it happens to them."

Because the House version of the NDAA does not have a similar amendment attached, a bipartisan conference committee will be charged with deciding whether to include the measure in the final version of the bill. Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and ranking member Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) both support Shaheen's amendment, and Shaheen said that House Armed Services Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) has indicated that he would support it as well. House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Ky.) has not indicated whether he would support the measure's inclusion, but three out of four ranking conferees would make for strong odds.

Claude Chafin, communications director for the House Armed Services Committee, said the committee's policy is not to comment on issues that may be the subject of conference negotiations.

Greg Jacobs, policy director of the veterans activist group Service Women's Action Network, says the amendment has better chances now that it did in previous years, because of the results of the November elections. Some Republicans in the House may still dislike the policy for ideological reasons, he said, but voters clearly rejected candidates like Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) and Richard Mourdock of Indiana who opposed abortion rights for rape victims.

"Politically, it comes at a good time for us," Jacobs said. "Clearly, those folks [like Akin and Mourdock] lost. The constituents and electorate have mixed feelings about abortion in cases of rape and incest, so it would be a difficult decision to maintain for you to deny that this is a necessary change in policy."

For Harrell, the trauma of having been raped and forced to continue her pregnancy continues to negatively affect her life more than a decade later. In the month after she reported the rape, she says she could not stop crying through her basic training activities. The other soldiers harassed her and called her a "slut," she says, and the military honorably discharged her for having a "personality disorder."

After she gave birth to her daughter, she says, she struggled for three years to connect with her. Today, she struggles with severe depression and cannot even go to the grocery store without constantly looking over her shoulder. "I'm fighting a war everyday in my mind," she said. "Every day it's hard for me to get up, just like that solider that went to Iraq."

If Shaheen's amendment passes, Harrell says, it will feel like a personal victory. "When I was in the military, if you wanted that choice, you had to pay for it yourself or just deal with it," she said. "And you're being a slut, you're being the loose female. That's what they tell you.

"I was 'the slut' for so many years, so it's amazing just to see this now. It's bittersweet."

UPDATE: 11:50 a.m. -- Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, confirmed to The Huffington Post in an emailed statement that he will argue for the inclusion of the Shaheen amendment in the House version of the defense bill.

"The women who serve to protect our nation should have the same access to health care services as ordinary citizens," he said. "If a women in our Armed Services or a female family member is the victim of rape or incest, they should receive the full support of our military, and that includes providing for all of their health care needs. This is about equality, and protecting the health and well-being of our service women and our female family members."

Read the Huffington Post article HERE.

Lignet - China Launches Aircraft Carrier

China has entered a critical phase in its rapid military expansion — and it is flexing its muscle for the world to see.

China just announced that it has succeeded in landing a J-15 fighter on an aircraft carrier, a milestone most experts didn’t expect the Chinese military to achieve for several years.

China's New Aircraft Carrier At Sea

China's J-15 Jet Fighter Approaches Carrier

Gordon G. Chang, an expert on Asian geopolitics, tells LIGNET, the global intelligence and forecasting service, that China is becoming desperate as a result of its deteriorating economy and the desire to claim more land.

Chang also believes the “military is starting to break free of civilian control.” He calls this “a very, very troublesome event.”

Is this just the beginning of China’s aggressive attempt to position itself as a global military superpower?

As the Obama administration prepares to announce the replacement for Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, this looms as a critically important question.

On Tuesday, Dec. 4, LIGNET will hold an emergency briefing on the escalating tensions between the United States and China.

Leading the intelligence panel will be former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who recently served as U.S. ambassador to China.

We strongly encourage you to join this urgent LIGNET briefing Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012, at 11 a.m. EST to discover how this new China could have dire consequences for America and inescapable economic ramifications.

If you would like to register to watch this important briefing, you can sign up by clicking here.

For More Information on LIGNET’s Briefing on China — Go Here Now

NH DHHS - Presentation on Military & Civilian Partnerships

Featured Speaker National War Hero Colonel David Sutherland, United

States Army-Retired



Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services is

hosting a presentation on

The Power of Partnerships: Military & Civilian Communities in Action on

Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm

in the auditorium of the Brown Building in Concord. National war hero,

Colonel David Sutherland, United States Army-Retired,

is one of the speakers during this unique presentation on partnerships that

provide services to veterans, service members and their families.



Colonel Sutherland most recently served as the Special Assistant to the

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with principle

focus on Warrior and Family Support. Prior to that, he served as the

Commander of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team “Greywolf,”

1st Cavalry Division in Iraq, commanding approximately 5,000 of our

nation’s finest men and women from all branches of the Armed Forces.



The two-hour session will also include highlights of New Hampshire’s own

Military & Civilian Partnership Projects.



Speakers:

Colonel David Sutherland, U.S. Army Retired, Former Commander of Greywolf

Major General William Reddel, Adjutant General, NH National Guard

Nicholas Toumpas, Commissioner, Department of Health and Human Services



When/Where: 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Auditorium, Brown Building

NH Department of Health and Human Services

129 Pleasant Street, Concord, NH

Frank's Footnotes Newsletter: A Warm Send Off for NH Troops

On The Front Lines: A Warm Send Off for NH Troops
This Friday I was honored to attend the Departure Ceremony for Detachment 2, F Company, 1/169th Aviation Regiment in Concord. I commend the 19 soldiers that are deploying for Afghanistan and joined with the rest of the New Hampshire Congressional Delegation and other local dignitaries to send off these brave men and women. These outstanding individuals are on the front lines to defend our freedoms and liberties we enjoy here at home, I wish them all the best for a successful mission and a safe return back to their families here in the Granite State.

	Standing by Granite Staters: Preparing for a Cold Winter
	In a bipartisan effort, myself and other Members of Congress from the northeastern delegation have proposed a bill that would ensure any further cuts to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) do not hurt people in those states who rely on home heating oil in the cold winter months. The current administration has consistently recommended that Congress reduce LIHEAP funding, I believe this would be detrimental to Granite Staters. This is why I have signed on as an original cosponsor to H.R. 6533, the LIHEAP Stability Act (Rep. Michaud D-ME), which would protect low-income families in New Hampshire and other states that have 25% or more of their households relying on heating oil. This legislation would keep LIHEAP funding at the FY2010 levels for the 2012-2013 winter, which will be helpful to those receiving this funding due to the rising cost of oil. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of H.R. 6533, the LIHEAP Stability Act because cuts to this program are extremely harmful to Granite Staters who rely on this funding in order to heat their homes.

	Keeping Our Communities Safe: Meeting with Rockingham County Police Chiefs
	This week I had the pleasure of speaking at the Rockingham County Police Chiefs meeting. I appreciated the chance to talk with the chiefs about law enforcement-related legislation under consideration on Capitol Hill. We had a frank discussion about the federal budget and the pressures our country faces to fund the important law enforcement programs our police departments across New Hampshire rely on. I will continue to work with Members of Congress to set policies that treat our state fairly when it comes to receiving law enforcement grants. It is always great to be able to meet with those men and women who work tirelessly to make sure our communities are safe. I am proud to stand up for them, and to let them know how much we appreciate all they do to protect us.

ALG's Daily Grind - Military's new mission-bailing out GM (again)

Sept. 26, 2012

Bernanke's Smoot-Hawley trade war declaration

As the Fed debases the dollar in a misguided attempt to boost exports, exports worldwide are down in 2012 by 1.8 percent, led by a 2.6 decrease in emerging and developing economies.

Internet kill switch

Obama's "Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions" executive order gives the executive branch control over communications across the country, including the Internet, in the event of a national emergency.

Military's new mission—bailing out GM (again)

DoD has a new mission — to purchase and integrate 1,500 new Chevy Volts into its fleet.  Who gave this order to begin "Operation Inefficient"? ALG files a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to find out. 

Was Greg Wagner the Mine Safety and Health Administration's million dollar man?  
Deputy assistant secretary received annual salary of $252,340—being overpaid by a whopping $200,931. The federal government's total investment during the period he was at MSHA approached $1 million. Plus, the bureaucrat got $22,500 for trips home based on travel vouchers obtained through a FOIA request.