National Security
The travelers on this whirlwind six-day junket are Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), Anna Eshoo (Calif.), Chellie Pingree (Maine), Cedric Richmond (La.), David Cicilline (R.I.) and Marc Veasey (Tex.).
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will travel to Italy and Ukraine starting Thursday on a congressional delegation intended to underscore the U.S. commitment to security in that region.
Democratic Reps. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, Anna Eshoo of California, Chellie Pingree of Maine, Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, David Cicilline of Rhode Island and Marc Veasey of Texas will accompany Pelosi. Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin was scheduled to join the trip but was forced to cancel because of family matters.
"Oh, God," Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) replied, lowering his head to the side when asked about the operation.
Veasey said that based on his time in the Legislature in Austin and "watching how sort of reckless and right and radical that the leaders down there have become … sadly, I'm not surprised" by the reaction.
Concerns about the exercise have persisted despite repeated statements from the Defense Department and Army leaders.
In Texas, all was mostly quiet on the Democratic front. Most in the party were reluctant to comment, saying they wanted more time to study the 109-page agreement.
"I'm not ready to weigh in right now," U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, said at the U.S. Capitol.
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas— Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, member of the House Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement commemorating Memorial Day:
Washington, D.C. — Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, member of the House Armed Services Committee released the following statement after voting in favor of H.R. 1735, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016:
In order to send the message that what is happening right now at the ICC cannot be tolerated, Reps. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) and Marc Veasey (D-Texas) have introduced House Resolution 209, which makes it clear that what the Palestinian Authority is doing is both a corruption of international law and a national security threat to America and its democratic ally, Israel.
Below is a list of the 41 Democrats who voted for the fiscal 2016 defense authorization:
40. Marc Veasey (Texas)
Another provision of the NDAA authored by Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) would have directed the Secretary of Defense to review how allowing DACA recipients to serve in the military would impact the pool of potential recruits and military readiness. The Secretary of Defense would then brief members of the House Armed Services Committee on the evaluation's results.
That provision remains in the bill, as the House Rules Committee did not allow a vote on an amendment to eliminate the Veasey language.
Washington, D.C. – This week, as the National Defense Authorization Act goes to the House floor for consideration, U.S. Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, and U.S. Congressman Ruben Gallego, AZ-7, will host a press conference to discuss their DREAMer amendments that both passed out of the House Armed Services Committee by a bipartisan vote.