[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 171 (Thursday, September 30, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H5562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      PENTAGON'S POLICIES FOR REPORTING VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Porter) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. PORTER. Madam Speaker, let me start with a few facts.
  One: The Leahy Law prohibits the United States from giving military 
assistance to foreign security forces that commit gross violations of 
human rights.
  Two: The State Department determines whether there have been gross 
violations of human rights based in part on information from the 
Department of Defense.
  Three: That process is only as good as the information coming in. 
Without that information, we don't cut off funding, and taxpayer 
dollars can go to foreign military units that commit rape, murder, 
torture, and other gross violations of human rights.
  When our servicemembers have information on such abuses, they have an 
obligation to report it to their chain of command, but that is not 
technically true for Defense Department contractors. That is a problem. 
In fact, that is a big problem because contractors are a huge part of 
our military presence around the world. They make up more than half of 
DOD personnel in Iraq.
  At the end of the war in Afghanistan, they outnumbered U.S. troops 17 
to 1. And there have been repeated allegations of contractors who 
failed to report gross violations of human rights, from sexual abuse of 
young boys in Afghanistan to the torture of prisoners in Yemen.
  In December 2019, Congress required the Pentagon to update the 
relevant policies and regulations. Section 888 of that year's Defense 
bill required specific guidance to Defense contractors on reporting 
gross violations of human rights.
  Section 888 said to the Pentagon very simply: Put this duty to report 
human rights violations in your contracts. Include rules about 
reporting gross violations of human rights and put them right next to 
the rules for accounting, for purchasing equipment, and for 
subcontracting.
  How has this been working? Not at all.
  And why is that?
  It is because the Department of Defense has apparently decided it is 
better to see no evil and hear no evil when Defense contractors witness 
gross violations of human rights.
  The requirements in section 888 are currently 469 days overdue.
  Madam Speaker, 204 days ago, my colleagues wrote to the Pentagon 
asking for an update; 97 days ago, the Pentagon sent a response that is 
best described with language that is prohibited on the House floor.
  The Pentagon's response provided no updates on time, no procedures 
for reporting gross violations of human rights, and provided none of 
the other information required under the law that Congress passed. This 
is completely unacceptable, and what it suggests is that neither human 
rights nor Congressional oversight are priorities for the Department of 
Defense.
  I urge Secretary Austin and General Milley to find out what is going 
on with section 888 of the fiscal year 2020 NDAA and fix whatever 
problems within their departments have led to this unacceptable delay.
  This week, Secretary Austin and General Milley testified under oath 
that we are going to learn the lessons of the war in Afghanistan. The 
need for strong, clear procedures for contractors to report gross 
violations of human rights is one of those lessons. It should be an 
easy one to learn.


                             Voting Rights

  Ms. PORTER: The right to vote is fundamental. Any threat to any 
American at the ballot box is a threat to every American's right to 
representative government.

  It is the duty of the Federal Government to protect our Nation's 
democracy. We need to expand opportunities to vote, especially for 
young people, people of color, workers with atypical hours, and people 
with disabilities. We need to crack down on gerrymandering so that 
voters choose their leaders instead of leaders choosing their voters. 
We need to modernize voter registration, reform our broken campaign 
finance system, and prevent election subversion.
  This is not a partisan issue. Every American, regardless of who they 
vote for or whether they even vote, deserves a government that works 
for them. And that cannot happen when the bedrock of our democracy, the 
right to vote, is undermined.
  In the House, I proudly voted for H.R. 1, the For the People Act, and 
H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advance Act to safeguard our 
democracy. But until the President signs democracy protection into law, 
the work is not done. I will keep fighting for our democracy.

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