Folks, if you live in Virginia, I need you to contact your delegate immediately and urge them to stand up for the liberty of Virginians by calling for a vote on HB 1160!
If you don't live in Virginia, please forward this blog on to any Virginia resident you know; their liberty quite literally depends on it.
If HB 1160 doesn't receive a vote in the House of Delegates by the end of this week, it will die when the session ends Sunday, March 11!
HB 1160, drafted by Delegate Bob Marshall, would prevent Virginia from cooperating with the federal government should they attempt to detain any citizen under the FY 2012 NDAA.
Originally, the bill passed the Virginia House of Delegates by an overwhelming 96-4 vote. It was amended in the Virginia Senate to make the language more concise and accomplish the same end with less words; it then passed by a vote of 39-1.
Now, it appears there are those in the House of Delegates who are doing all in their power to keep this bill from receiving a vote on final passage to send to the Governor's desk.
For three legislative days in a row, HB 1160 has been passed by for the day, keeping it from receiving a vote. As previously mentioned, if HB 1160 doesn't receive a vote by the end of the week, the bill is dead.
Yesterday there was a small floor debate between Delegate Comstock (one of the original four to vote against the bill) and Delegate Marshall. However, at the end of the debate it was passed over without a vote.
Delegate Marshall is doing what he can to pass HB 1160, including penning a "Dear Colleague" letter and reaching out to the head of the Japanese American Citizen's League reminding Virginia Senators of the injustice committed against Japanese Americans by imprisoning them in "internment camps" for the duration of WWII.
If you take action to contact your delegate right away, we can make sure HB 1160 receives its final vote this week and heads to the Governor's desk for his signature.
Contact your delegate and urge them to support the Senate Amendment to HB 1160. If someone makes a motion to "pass the bill by" for the day, ask your delegate to seek a recorded vote on that motion - it only takes 20 delegates to force a vote on the motion.
If your delegate seems undecided, or hasn't committed to seeking a roll call vote, ask them why they would support giving anyone unlimited power to arrest citizens without any procedural guarantee? Ask them if they intend to remain silent in the face of this profound threat to our liberties?
UPDATE: Apparently the answer to the blog title is "Yes, the Virginia House of Delegates was trying to kill HB 1160." The VA House of Delegates voted against adopting the Senate Amendment by a vote of 48-51, despite passing nearly identical language three weeks ago by a vote of 96-4. Stay tuned for more details.
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