[VIDEO] SEN. HELLER: JOHN MCCAIN ‘WOULDN’T ACCEPT’ AMENDMENT TO ARM TROOPS ON BASES BEFORE CHATTANOOGA ATTACK

During a July 23 interview on the Lars Larson Show, Senator 

Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV)

52%

 said that in June he “submitted an amendment” to the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) “to give military base commanders the authority to allow service members to carry personal firearms.”

That was weeks before the heinous attack on Chattanooga, but he says the amendment went nowhere because Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman 

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

43%

 “didn’t want the amendment as part of the bill and wouldn’t accept it.”

On July 21–just 5 days after the heinous attack in Chattanooga–Senator Heller re-introduced his amendment and asked “that National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) conferees include [it]” so our troops can be armed for self-defense.

Heller sent a letter to Chairman McCain and the members of the Armed Services committee, saying:

I encourage all conferees to look at my amendment, along with the language passed by the House, as a reasonable and effective way to move forward on this issue and give our nation’s base commanders the authority they need to create a safer environment for our heroes serving across America.

Never should the men and women serving at home have to be afraid that the base they work, and often live, on is not safe.

Via: Breitbart

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Should the servicemen murdered in Chattanooga receive Purple Hearts?

Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John McCain is working to ensure that the four Marines and Navy petty officer who died in the terror attack on the Marine recruiting station in Chattanooga recieve Purple Heart medals for their sacrifice.

Washington Times:

Some of the Marines may have saved their fellow service members by ushering them to safety before returning to try to neutralize Abdulazeez. 

“While I cannot share specific details about what happened that morning, our Marines reacted the way you would expect — rapidly going from room to room. They got their fellow Marines to safety,” Maj. Gen. Paul Brier, commander of the 4th Marine Division, said during a news conference Wednesday. “Once they got them to safety, some willingly ran back into the fight.” 

Twenty Marines and two Navy corpsmen were in the naval reserve center inspecting their equipment after returning from a training program, Gen. Brier told reporters, indicating that the massacre could have been much worse if not for the Marines’ acts of courage. 

Lt. Cmdr. Timothy White, the support center’s commanding officer, used his personal firearm to engage Abdulazeez during the attack, the Navy Times reported. Four sources confirmed that the officer’s actions were included in a report distributed to senior Navy leaders after the attack.

Via: American Thinker

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Carter vows U.S. will continue, even step up operations over disputed South China Sea island

Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Saturday urged China to stop trying to convert an artificial reefs in the South China Sea land into a military airfield but that the U.S. has no intentions of ending air and sea operation in the regions.

Carter made his comment at an international security conference filled with Asia-Pacific leaders and also said the United States has been flying and operating ships in the region for decades and opposes “any further militarization” of the disputed lands.

He also said the reclamation project is out of step with international rules and that turning underwater land into airfields won’t expand Beijing’s sovereignty.

A Chinese military officer in the crowd immediately slammed Carter’s comments as “groundless and not constructive.”

Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who also is attending the Singapore conference, said he agreed with Carter's assertion that America will continue flights and operations near the building projects, but "now we want to see it translated into action."

He also told reporters that the U.S. needs to recognize that China will continue its activities in the South China Sea until it perceives that the costs of doing so outweigh the benefits.

Via: Fox News

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