For those of you who have been following Virginia's efforts to thwart the NDAA's detention provisions, the bill needs our help one more time.
Tomorrow, the Virginia Senate could have the final vote on HB 1160, either sending it to the Governor's desk for his signature or burying it to die from inaction in a conference committee.
Delegate Bob Marshall, HB 1160's patron, is urging Virginians to contact their state senators immediately and urge them to recede from the Senate Amendment and vote to approve the House version of HB 1160.
Please read the important letter below from Bob Marshall and take action if you live in Virginia - or pass it on to someone you know who resides there.
Thank you for all of your support through this strange back and forth on HB 1160.
As most of you know because HB 1160 was amended in the Senate (with my support) it had to go back to the House for approval of the Senate amendment. For several days after it was back on the House calendar, Delegate Barbara Comstock asked that the bill be "passed by for the day" to delay a vote on the bill. Delegate Comstock was the U.S. Justice Department's spokesperson for the Patriot Act and is the Virginia co-chair for Mitt Romney's campaign. Mitt Romney has said that he would have signed the 2012 NDAA including the objectionable detention portions.
During the time it was being passed by each day it became clear that the Governor had "expressed concerns" to some House members about the bill including the Republican Caucus Chairman, Tim Hugo. The Governor's Office has NEVER contacted me with questions or helpful suggestions about HB 1160. Governor McDonnell previously indicated his opposition to HB 1160 when it was in the House subcommittee.
Finally on March 6, 2012, under pressure from many outraged Virginians who had contacted their members to demand a vote on the bill, the House finally voted. The house voted to not accept the Senate Amendments by a vote of 48-51. In my judgment this was merely a ploy to kill HB 1160 in a stalled conference committee.
As I write this Delegate Comstock is personally lobbying senators in opposition to HB 1160. She claimed that Congressman Wolf had expressed concern about HB 1160. However, I personally talked to the Chief of Staff for Congressman Wolf about HB 1160. He told me that Congressman Wolf never gets involved in General Assembly bills other than gambling measures, and that he had taken NO position on HB 1160. Delegate Comstock also claimed on the House floor that the National Guard was concerned about HB 1160 because it might affect joint state federal information sharing. But the National Guard representative never mentioned these or any such concerns when I presented HB 1160 in both the full House and Senate Courts Committee.
Thanks in part to Senator Chap Petersen, today the Senate receded from its amendment and accepted the original House language. This is what I had hoped would happen even though I supported the Senate Amendment because it will allow the Senate's vote to be the final vote on the bill. In other words, if the Senate accepts the House language there is no need for it to be sent to a conference committee. They then reconsidered the vote that they had just taken to recede from the Senate amendment and the bill was "passed by for the day." HB 1160 should be up for a final vote tomorrow, March 8, 2012, in the Senate. If the Senate votes again to recede from their amendment and then votes to approve the House language tomorrow the bill will be sent to the Governor. It they decide not to recede from the amendments the bill will be sent to conference committee where it is likely to be killed by taking no action. If they vote to recede from the amendments but then vote against the House version of the bill the bill will be dead.
THEREFORE, those who support HB 1160 should contact the Senators TONIGHT and ask them to RECEDE FROM THE SENATE AMENDMENTS AND VOTE IN FAVOR OF THE HOUSE PASSED VERSION OF HB 1160 when it comes up for a vote TOMORROW, March 8, 2012. Below is a list of the Senators with contact information and how they voted today.
Thank you again for your support. Please share this with as many people as possible.
Sincerely,
Delegate Bob Marshall
RGM/ccg
Senators Voting Against HB 1160
Senator Barbara Favola district31@senate.virginia.gov
804-698-7531
Senator Emmett Hanger district24@senate.virginia.gov
804-698-7524
Senator Ryan McDougle district04@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7504
Senator John Miller district01@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7501
Senator Tommy Norment district03@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7503
Senator Frank Ruff district15@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7515
Senator Dick Saslaw district35@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7535
Senator Bill Stanley district20@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7520
Senator Walter Stosch district12@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7512
Senator John Watkins district10@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7510Senators Voting in Support of HB 1160
Senator George Barker district39@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7539
Senator Dick Black district13@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7513
Senator Churck Colgan district29@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7529
Senator Creigh Deeds district25@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7525
Senator Adam Ebbin district30@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7530
Senator John Edwards district21@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7521
Senator Tom Garrett district22@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7522
Senator Mark Herring district33@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7533
Senator Janet Howell district32@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7532
Senator Mamie Locke district02@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7502
Senator Louise Lucas district18@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7518
Senator Dave Marsden district37@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7537
Senator Henry Marsh district16@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7516
Senator Steve Martin district11@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7511
Senator Donald McEachin district09@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7509
Senator Jeffrey McWaters district08@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7508
Senator Yvonne Miller district05@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7505
Senator Steve Newman district23@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7523
Senator Ralph Northam district06@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7506
Senator Mark Obenshain district26@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7526
Senator Chap Petersen district34@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7534
Senator Phillip Puckett district38@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7538
Senator Toddy Puller district36@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7536
Senator Bryce Reeves district17@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7517
Senator Ralph Smith district19@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7519
Senator Richard Stuart district28@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7528
Senator Jill Vogel district27@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7527
Senator Frank Wagner district07@senate.virginia.gov 804-698-7507
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