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IAVA Daily Brief 12.18.09
Posted by Terrell Frazier on December 18 2009

 Here are some of today's top stories and happenings at IAVA.  Prefer to receive real-time updates about major stories and legislation that IAVA is tracking?  Follow us on Twitter @IAVAPressRoom or subscribe to receive the brief in your inbox each morning at www.iava.org/dailynewsbrief.

MUST READS

1) House approves 3.4 percent military pay raise, Senate nears passage

Military members are a step closer to a 3.4 percent pay raise, with House lawmakers’ passage of the 2010 defense spending bill Dec. 16. House and Senate lawmakers agreed in conference to the 3.4 percent raise as part of the $636.3 billion Defense Appropriations bill, which the could be passed by the Senate before the week’s end.

2) Lawmakers: Troops have problem with combat gear

Troops are being sent to war zones without proper training and suitable gear, according to two senior lawmakers who say they've been told by troops about problems ranging from their backpacks to their rifles. In a Dec. 10 letter to the Pentagon's top leaders, the Democratic lawmakers said they are "greatly troubled" by what they learned as the Obama White House begins the Afghan troop surge.

3) All Military Installations to Aid in Voter Registration

The Department of Defense said this week that it would require every military installation around the world to help troops register to vote, the latest move in Washington to eliminate what are considered longstanding obstacles to voting by military personnel.

AFGHANISTAN

The top U.S. military officer Adm. Mike Mullen told Afghan tribal leaders in this center of insurgent resistance Thursday that making immediate progress against widespread corruption is critical.

The United States has spent over $23 billion on reconstruction and development contracts in Afghanistan since 2002, and auditors say about $1 billion of this is waste, a U.S. senator said on Thursday.

Despite President Obama making the case for the Afghan troop surge on national TV, a new Associated Press poll found that Americans still oppose the escalation, with 42 percent favoring the surge and 56 percent opposing it.

IRAQ

Dozens of suspected plotters in last week's deadly suicide bombings that killed 127 people in Baghdad were linked to security forces, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Wednesday.

Insurgents in Iraq have hacked into live video feeds from unmanned American drone aircraft, US media reports say. Obtaining such video feeds could provide insurgents with information about sites the military might be planning to target.

MILITARY AFFAIRS
The nominee for the Pentagon’s top public affairs job promised Thursday he will review Defense Department policies to ensure that journalists are not being denied embeds with combat troops based on the tenor of their reporting, a practice exposed by Stars and Stripes last summer.

About one in four soldiers admit to abusing prescription drugs, most of them pain relievers, in a one-year period, according to a Pentagon health survey released Wednesday. The study, which surveyed more than 28,500 U.S. troops last year, showed that about 20 percent of Marines had also abused prescription drugs, mostly painkillers, in that same period.

Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) paid to nearly a million servicemembers living off base in stateside areas will increase an average of 2.5 percent in January to keep up with rising rental costs.

The Air Force Academy says religious tolerance has improved dramatically since allegations five years ago that evangelical Christians harassed cadets who didn't share their faith.

INSIDE WASHINGTON
A House oversight subcommittee said Wednesday that it has begun a wide-ranging investigation into allegations that private security companies hired to protect Defense Department convoys in Afghanistan are paying off warlords and the Taliban to ensure safe passage.

The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday suspended its investigation of the Nov. 5 shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, until the Department of Defense had finished its investigation.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

The Senate will convene at 12:01 a.m.

SENATE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

Resume Motion to Concur with respect to H.R.3326, Department of Defense Appropriations.

1:00am cloture vote on the Motion to Concur.

Votes:

380: 1am Roll Call Vote on the Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R.3326.

COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

No issues today

THE HOUSE of  REPRESENTATIVES



The House is not in session

HOUSE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

No issues today

HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST



No issues today

A wide-range of views, positions, and publications are represented in these articles. These views, positions and publications are not endorsed by nor do they necessarily represent the views of IAVA.

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