(WatchDogReport.org) – Congress has been negotiating the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the last few weeks. The legislation is absolutely essential as it provides Pentagon funding for the new fiscal year. In November, Senate Republicans blocked the legislation because they disagreed with many of the provisions the Left added.
Now, some of those proposals have been stripped from the bill, including one that concerned gun rights activists.
Red Flag Laws
On Tuesday, December 7, the House of Representatives passed the revised NDAA, voting 363-70. The $768-billion bill no longer contains red flag language that some believed would violate Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
In September, the original NDAA contained a section titled, “Authority Of Military Judges And Military Magistrates To Issue Military Court Protective Orders.” It allowed military courts to prohibit service members from “possessing, receiving, or otherwise accessing a firearm.”
Like civilian red flag laws, the courts would have been able to temporarily strip the service member’s Second Amendment rights by issuing an ex parte order. That’s an order granted without a response from the military members who could lose their rights. The other way it would’ve worked is by giving the subject an “opportunity to be heard on the order.”
When Democrats tried to conceal the language in the bill, Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) released a statement saying he was “outraged” by the Left’s attempt to add “unconstitutional red flag laws” in the legislation in order to strip servicemembers of their Second Amendment rights. Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) also objected to the language, releasing a statement promising it would not be in the final bill — and he was right.
The red flag law language wasn’t the only controversial section stripped from the NDAA.
Female Draft
Democrats and some Republicans wanted to force women to register for the Selective Service (draft) when they turned 18 years old. They argued that because females could now serve in all jobs within the Armed Forces, it’s only fair if they also have to sign up for the draft. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was among the supporters of the provision. However, an effort led largely by Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) succeeded in stripping the language from the Pentagon funding bill.
Now that the House has passed the legislation, the Senate must also support it before it goes to President Joe Biden’s desk. The upper chamber is where it stalled before. Lawmakers are hopeful that won’t be a problem this time around.
Copyright 2021, WatchDogReport.org
