LTE – JoAnn Utphall – 12-1-2021
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
Dear Letter to the Editor:
Senators have submitted hundreds of amendments to the (must be passed each year) 2022 National Defense Authorization Bill to improve the nation’s security.
Most proposals relate to the Defense Department but some don’t. Here is a partial list: withdrawal from Afghanistan; the supply chain’s reliance on China; ending reliance on Chinese rare earth minerals (needed in most technological systems from cell phones to fighter jets) by stockpiling rare minerals; new training and education programs to eliminate extremism in the ranks; establish two interagency government agencies to fight the narcotics industry in Afghanistan and eliminate their illicit financial networks; award Gold Medals to troop killed in the Kabul terrorist attack; establish a Global Electoral Exchange Program to make sure international allies are sharing election security best practices; selling unused military gear to law enforcement; delay Covid-19 vaccine mandate enforcement for troops until Pentagon leaders consider every medical or religious exemption request, and the appeal process; keeping Cuba on the Terrorism list until it is proven that Cuba is not a sanctuary for terrorists; establish the Office of Global Women’s Issues at the State Department to ensure fighting for equal rights for women and girls around the world; ensure that students who become parents at a military academy can both finish their studies and retain their parental rights; repeal of the 2002 “Authorization for Use of Military Force” which approved military action in Iraq following 9/11; ideas to end the opioid epidemic; and new initiatives within the Department of Health and Human Services. Not all the items will be considered and those will not be included in the final bill.
Go to the article, “Senators have more than 900 ideas to fix America’s security” for more details. If interested in seeing all 900 ideas, click on “900 amendments” in the first paragraph.
JoAnn Utphall
Boyceville