Press Releases
May 20, 2010
Congresswoman Bordallo Will Introduce H.R. 44 as an Amendment to National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011
Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo today announced that she will introduce H.R. 44, the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act, as an amendment to H.R. 5136, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (NDAA), when the bill is considered on the floor of the House of Representatives next week. The House Armed Services Committee passed the NDAA by unanimous consent late in the evening of May 19, 2010. House leadership plans to bring the NDAA to the House floor for debate and a final vote late next week.
Before the FY11 NDAA reaches the floor, it will be considered by the Rules Committee where they will make certain amendments in order. The bill will then go to the floor where only amendments made in order by the Rules Committee are debated. This approach is similar to the strategy that Congresswoman Bordallo followed with H.R. 44 in last fiscal year’s defense spending bill, H.R. 2647. During debate of the FY10 NDAA on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Bordallo offered an amendment that attached the text of H.R. 44 to the defense bill. Congresswoman Bordallo’s amendment was successfully adopted by the full House by voice vote as part of a bloc of amendments during passage of the FY10 NDAA.
Congressman Ike Skelton, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and Congressman Buck McKeon, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee are fully supportive of including the text of H.R. 44 in the FY11 NDAA. The amendment was not considered during full committee mark-up last night due to procedural issues with provisions that are out of the House Armed Services Committee’s jurisdiction.
“The House plans to bring the FY11 defense authorization bill to the floor next week, and it is during that time that I will offer my amendment to include war claims in the defense spending bill,” Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo said today. “Chairman Skelton has stated time and time again that he fully supports the inclusion of war claims in the defense bill again this year. Moreover, the measure enjoys strong bipartisan support as Ranking Member McKeon also supports its inclusion in the bill again this year. This strategy is identical to what was done with war claims in last year’s defense spending bill due to procedural issues in the Armed Services Committee. The House-passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act will still need to be reconciled with the Senate’s version of the defense spending bill. H.R. 44 remains my top legislative priority and I am confident that this strategy is the most effective means of advancing war claims legislation.”