Scott Brown And Jeff Bingaman To Be Added To Senate Armed Services Committee
Scott Brown And Jeff Bingaman To Be Added To Senate Armed Services Committee
ThinkProgress has learned from Hill sources that newly elected Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) will be added to the Senate Armed Services Committee, a position he was “pushing hard” for. The assignment will give Brown, a lieutenant colonel in the Massachusetts National Guard, a “boost” since the committee has jurisdiction over national security spending. The late senator Ted Kennedy, whose seat Brown has filled, was also on the committee.
Additionally, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) will be added to the committee, to maintain the Democratic-Republican ratio.
A major question for Brown is how he will come down on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), one of the top issues facing the committee. In a January interview with ABC News, Brown said that he still hadn’t taken a position on whether to repeal the policy:
BROWN: I think it’s important, because as you know we’re fighting two wars right now. And the most — the first priority is to — is to — is to finish the job, and win those wars. I’d like to hear from the generals in the field — in the field — the people that actually work with these soldiers to make sure that, you know, the social change is not going to disrupt our ability to finish the job and complete the wars. [...]
WALTERS: So you can’t say whether you’re for or against it?
BROWN: No. I’m going to wait to speak to the generals on the ground.
Watch it:
Bingaman voted against the ban on gay men and women serving openly in the military when it came up in 1993.
The Senate Armed Services Committee wouldn’t confirm the appointments to ThinkProgress since an official release has not yet gone out. The staff member also wouldn’t say when that would be happening.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
Now we can confirm that Brown is dense. The generals have already spoken out on the issue. The only reason for talking to more generals is to solicit the opinion you want rather than the one you have. Second, there are two wars which we cannot win in any sense of the word. Iraq cost a lot of lives and money for which we got nothing. Afghanistan will never be stable because the people are loyal only to the ones who are paying them.
March 1st, 2010 at 5:50 pmMr. Brown, once again the same tired rhetoric… “Win these wars”…
March 1st, 2010 at 5:53 pmWere not fighting a standing army, navy, etc…they’re terrorists, what’s the plan to overcome the terrorist to where they are no longer a threat? Got a plan? No?, then shut the hell up..
A major “boost” indeed. This appointment moves Sen. Brown up to the dining car of the military-industrial complex gravy train. His reelection war chest will brim as people around the world die from nonstop weapon proliferation.
March 1st, 2010 at 5:55 pmThis is Scott Brown’s position as of January…and that position is ” I’m waiting to decide”.
My guess is that he WILL vote to repeal DADT. He has to, if he is to have any chance of being Reelected in Massachusetts.
March 1st, 2010 at 5:57 pmI wonder if Brown will throw the ‘Tea-Baggers’ under the bus again? Guarenteed, I think those old farts are infuriated by the repeal of DADT.
March 1st, 2010 at 6:00 pmBROWN: No. I’m going to wait to speak to the generals on the ground.
I predict that no matter what Brown does, it will be ineffective.
March 1st, 2010 at 6:16 pmWe are involved in a war on a word designed to never end. Its a farce.
March 1st, 2010 at 6:18 pmQuestion: I heard a rumor that Obama signed a one year extension on the Patriot Act Saturday night. This can’t be true, can it? I’m sure if it were true, TP would have covered it with a huge article condemning the continuation of Bush’s failed policy. Please tell me it’s not true.
March 1st, 2010 at 6:25 pmBeethoven, the Patriot was actually around before Bush was elected. Furthermore the Act was passed by wide margins in BOTH houses of Congress and was supported by members of both the Republican and Democratic parties. So its not really a Bush policy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act
I am against it, unfortunately they extended this bit of rights robbing legislation.
March 1st, 2010 at 6:29 pmXisithrus says:
The Patriot Act was not around before Bush. I believe you meant Obama. The Act has been challenged in various federal courts and not all of these cases have been resolved. There are many provisions that have been found unconstitutional as written and as applied to US citizens. The Act provides what appears to be broad authority but courts have restricted how it applies to US citizens and everyone else in the US. It still has many challenges that are pending. More than likely, it will have to be amended again when the SCOTUS rules or affirms a federal appeals court.
March 1st, 2010 at 6:59 pmThe Patriot Act came into existence after 9/11.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:11 pmBeethoven Rules says:
——————————————————
That’s right you little p*ssy, President Obama signed an extension of the Patriot Act to keep all of you little cowards on the right safe from them scary brown skinned terrorists.
Just wait until Obama uses the Patriot Act to round up right wing domestic terrorists. That will be phucking awesome.
Maybe he will throw them all into FEMA death camps. *snark*
March 1st, 2010 at 7:14 pmGlobal war on terrorism = Perpetual war
It has replace the cold war and communism but is still great business for the war industry and a drain on our budget.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:16 pmI’m confused. Doesn’t drone bombing Pakistan count as a war? How many people do you have to kill before it’s a war? Or is it based on money spent? What officially determines if your in a war?
March 1st, 2010 at 7:45 pmSorry, I meant to add the following paragraph:
So, when you say “we’re fighting in two wars”, don’t you mean 3 or more?
March 1st, 2010 at 7:47 pmI’m willing to wait to see what Brown does (not that it makes much difference as I’m in a state 1,000 miles away).
I don’t see any particular positive for Brown in spilling the beans immediately.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:39 pmScott: Show all those straight soldiers your Cosmo centerfold and THEN ask them how they feel about serving with gays!!!
March 1st, 2010 at 8:49 pmIf a guy wears pink leather shorts just how do you think he will vote on DADT?
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:08 amBush’s pro-life policies might have cost more lives than it “saved” though his views on stem cell research. Here’s a new technology sohbet that showed the most promise since penicillin, yet we were çiçek restricted for nearly a decade because one man thought it was morally the same thing as shooting a five year old in the head.
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:22 amAnd the most — the first priority is to — is to — is to finish the job, and win those wars.
A war against Al Qaeda which is expected to last indefinitely-how convenient.
March 2nd, 2010 at 6:47 am