In two separate votes in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, lawmakers from both parties affirmed their ongoing acceptance of the ever-growing national security state and support for the military authorization that has kept the nation in constant war since 2001.
Though neither was expected to pass, the failure of the two separate amendments introduced as part of the 2013 Defense Authorization Bill offers a window into the bipartisan consensus that permeates Washington when it comes to appeasing the dominant influence of the military-intelligence-industrial complex that has gained unprecedented authority and profited so magnificently in the post-9/11 era.
The first amendment voted down, introduced by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and co-sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), would have severely curtailed the massive collection of US citizens’ telephonic and digital communication data by NSA surveillance programs, the existence and extent of which have only recently come to light following disclosures from whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The amendment was defeated by a margin of 217-205, with twelve members not voting (see roll call below).
The second amendment defeated, introduced by Rep. Adam Schiffer (D-Calif.), would have unseated the powers contained in the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), signed in the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks of 2001 (and continually renewed since), that underpins the entirety of the ongoing and so-called ‘war against terror,’ includiong the war in Afghanistan and numerous covert and overt military actions around the globe.
The Schiffer amendment—which would have given a New Years Day, 2015 as the final day of the AUMF’s authority—lost by an even wider margin than Amash-Conyers, with 236 members of congress voting against it versus the 185 who supported it.
The two roll calls for the amendments follow:
Amodei
Bachus
Barton
Bass
Becerra
Bentivolio
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Bridenstine
Broun (GA)
Buchanan
Burgess
Capps
Capuano
Cárdenas
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Chu
Cicilline
Clarke
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Coffman
Cohen
Connolly
Conyers
Courtney
Cramer
Crowley
Cummings
Daines
Davis, Danny
Davis, Rodney
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Edwards
Ellison
Eshoo
Farenthold
Farr
Fattah
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Fudge
Gabbard
Garamendi
Garrett
Gibson
Gohmert
Gosar
Gowdy
Graves (GA)
Grayson
Green, Gene
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grijalva
Hahn
Hall
Harris
Hastings (FL)
Holt
Honda
Huelskamp
Huffman
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Jeffries
Jenkins
Johnson (OH)
Jones
Jordan
Keating
Kildee
Kingston
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Lewis
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Luján, Ben Ray (NM)
Lummis
Lynch
Maffei
Maloney, Carolyn
Marchant
Massie
Matsui
McClintock
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McHenry
McMorris Rodgers
Meadows
Mica
Michaud
Miller, Gary
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Mullin
Mulvaney
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Nolan
Nugent
O’Rourke
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Pearce
Perlmutter
Perry
Petri
Pingree (ME)
Pocan
Poe (TX)
Polis
Posey
Price (GA)
Radel
Rahall
Rangel
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Richmond
Roe (TN)
Rohrabacher
Ross
Rothfus
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Salmon
Sánchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sanford
Sarbanes
Scalise
Schiff
Schrader
Schweikert
Scott (VA)
Sensenbrenner
Serrano
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Smith (MO)
Smith (NJ)
Southerland
Speier
Stewart
Stockman
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (MS)
Thompson (PA)
Tierney
Tipton
Tonko
Tsongas
Vela
Velázquez
Walz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Weber (TX)
Welch
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Yarmuth
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
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