Defense

Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) is traveling to Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines this week to promote the dismantling of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

“Cooperation is essential to identifying and interdicting the flow of weapons of mass destruction through Southeast Asia,” Lugar said in a statement Monday. “Sources of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons or precursor materials could be states or rogue terrorist elements.”

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) called on the Department of Defense on Thursday to move forward with a nationwide review of mental health diagnoses for service members.

Murray, chairwoman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to move to the next step on a timeline for a military-wide review of PTSD and behavioral health diagnoses made since the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. 

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) called for President Obama to sign a bill that would allow military service members to get a commercial driver’s license if they drove trucks in the military.

Brown said the Military Commercial Driver's License Act would cut through red tape so service members can get the certification needed to work in the freight industry when they return to civilian life.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said Thursday that he’s concerned that fewer military service members and their spouses are voting.

“The right to vote and choose our nation’s leaders is the most important privilege we as citizens have in a democracy, Moran said in a statement released Thursday. “As service members and their families are frequently moved around the nation on short notice or sent abroad, having access to an absentee ballot should be the least of their concerns."

Moran cited recent reports that showed a steep decline in absentee ballot requests from military personnel and their spouses compared to 2008. Reports also indicate that on-base voter assistance for military service members, which was mandated by the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, is inadequate.

Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) called on the Defense Department to review its efforts to protect American diplomats worldwide Wednesday.

Their suggestion came after four Americans, including U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, were killed last month at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) said Wednesday that the Army should extend awarding the Combat Medic Badge to those who served before the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

In a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh sent Wednesday, Casey pointed out that current eligibility only extends to those who have served since Sept. 18, 2001, but said he has constituents who served in the Vietnam and Korean wars who deserve the honor as well.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) promoted their legislation Tuesday, which would end the ban on in vitro fertilization (IVF) services at veterans’ hospitals.

The two lawmakers are meeting with veterans in their home state who have experienced reproductive injuries while deployed. Some veterans whom they are scheduled to talk with later Tuesday have had to pay high out-of-pocket costs in the private sector to start their own families, since the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would not cover the medical procedure.

Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) asked the Veterans Affairs’ Department and Defense Department to work together to improve the “broken” disability evaluation process.

In a letter the lawmakers sent late last week, they also called on the departments to establish a timeline for completing a review of the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES). The request came after the Government Accountability Office released a report in which it found problems with the system.

A group of bipartisan senators told the Department of Defense this week to eliminate Pentagon waste by pulling funding for a missile defense system.

Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Scott Brown (R-Mass.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and David Vitter (R-La.) sent Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta a letter Thursday calling for an end to the Medium Air Extended Defense System (MEADS), which has been plagued by scheduling delays and cost overruns.

Reps. Michael Michaud (D-Maine) and Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) are circulating a letter among other House members that calls on the Department of Defense to fully enforce rules ensuring that military uniforms and other items are made in America.

A letter that members plan to submit to DOD says the so-called Berry Amendment requires DOD to buy U.S.-made items, but says this policy appears to have slipped, and that members of the Armed Forces are wearing some articles of clothing made in China.