Note: Over 275 amendments have been submitted to the bill, only a very few of which were considered before the Senate recessed for the Thanksgiving holiday. When the Senate returns on November 28, it will resume consideration of the bill.
This list is divided into:
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
DEFENSE ISSUES
FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES
OTHER AMENDMENTS
AMENDMENTS ALREADY CONSIDERED
Amendments pending or submitted
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
Iran sanctions: Kirk (R-IL), Manchin (D-WV), Blunt (R-MO), Tester (D-MT) and others amendment No. 1084 to require the President to impose sanctions on foreign institutions that conduct transactions with Iran’s central bank. Menendez (D-NJ) amendment No. 1292 is similar.
Nuclear weapons triad: Sessions (R-AL) amendment No. 1183 to require the maintenance of all three legs of the nuclear weapons triad, those on land, at sea and in the air. Hoeven (R-ND) , Tester (D-MT), Blunt (R-MO, Enzi (R-WY) and Vitter (R-LA) have a similar amendment No. 1279 supporting the triad and endorsing all three legs of the triad.
Missile defense on the East Coast: Sessions (R-AL) amendment No. 1185 to require a report on stationing missile defense on the East Coast.
Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs): Barrasso (R-WY), Enzi (R-WY), Conrad (D-ND), Baucus (D-MT) and Tester (D-MT) amendment No. 1307 requiring the U.S. to maintain all 450 ICBM’s in the force with the New START limit of 800 strategic launchers, including 420 on alert or operationally deployed status, with any reductions to be taken equally from the three ICBM bases.
Sharing missile defense information with Russia: Kirk (R-IL), Kyl (R-AZ), DeMint (R-SC) and Sessions (R-AL) amendment No. 1310 barring sharing classified missile defense technology with Russia.
Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles: Hatch (R-UT) amendment No. 1315 requiring a report on long-term maintenance of a minimal capacity to produce ICBM solid rocket motors.
Chemical weapons: Wyden (D-OR) amendment No. 1160 to close the Umatilla Army Chemical Depot in Oregon.
DEFENSE ISSUES
Adding National Guard to Joint Chiefs of Staff: Leahy (D-VT), Graham (R-SC) and many other Senators’ amendment No. 1072 to add the head of the National Guard to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Counterfeit electronic parts: Levin (D-MI) and McCain (R-AZ) amendment No. 1092 providing greater penalties for companies that provide counterfeit electronic parts for military weapons systems.
Concurrent receipts: Reid (D-NV) amendment No. 1128 permitting payment of both retired pay and veterans’ disability compensation with service-connected disabilities rated less than 50%.
Auditing Pentagon books: Paul (R-KY) amendment No. 1063 to require the Pentagon to have its books ready for an audit by September 30, 2014. Ayotte (R-NH) has a related amendment No. 1066. McCain (D-AZ), Levin (D-MI) and Ayotte (R-NH) have a related amendment No. 1132.
AFRICOM headquarters: Paul (R-KY) amendment No. 1136 to bar placing AFRICOM headquarters outside of continental U.S. Hutchison (R-TX) has a related amendment No. 1232 that is a sense of the Senate resolution.
American bases overseas: Tester (D-MT) and Hutchison (R-TX) amendment No. 1145, their bill S. 1733 to establish a commission to consider closing overseas bases.
Troops in Europe: Sessions (R-AL) amendment No. 1182 to limit U.S. combat brigades permanently station in Europe to two, compared to four now, effective January 1, 2016.
B-1 bomber: Hutchison (R-TX), Johnson (D-SD), Thune (R-SD) and Cornyn (R-TX) amendment 1198 to slow the retirement of B-1 bombers.
Cluster munitions: Feinstein (D-CA) and Leahy (D-VT) amendment No. 1252 to bar the use of most cluster munitions.
Reduce the funding: Paul (R-KY) amendment No. 1268 to reduce the topline (non-war) number in the bill by 1% to $559.5 billion. He also has amendment No. 1270 to reduce the bill by 2% to $553.9 billion.
FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES
Afghanistan: Merkley (D-OR), Paul (R-KY), T. Udall (D-NM), Lee (R-UT), Brown (D-OH), Gillilbrand (D-NY), Harkin (D-IA), Durbin (D-IL), Manchin (D-WV) and Whitehouse (D-RI) amendment No. 1174 to urge an accelerated withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
Authorization for the use of military force (AUMF): Paul (R-KY) and Gillibrand (D-NY) amendment No. 1064 to terminate the authorization to use force in Iraq.
Jerusalem as capital of Israel: Heller (R-NV) amendment No. 1137 to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to relocate the U.S. Embassy there.
Pakistan Corker (R-TN) amendments No. 1171 and 1172, barring funds for any Pakistani entity that maintains connections to terrorist organizations and a report on ending assistance for Pakistani support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Taiwan: Cornyn (R-TX), Menendez (D-NJ), Inhofe (R-OK), Lieberman (I-CT), Wyden (D-OR) and Blumenthal (D-CT) amendent No. 1200 requiring the U.S. to sell at least 66 F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan.
Cooperation with Republic of Georgia: McCain (R-AZ) amendment No. 1281 to require a plan for normalizing defense cooperation with the Republic of Georgia, including the sale of weapons.
War Powers Resolution: Thune (R-SD) amendment No. 1282 to repeal the War Powers Resolution.
International entities: Vitter (R-LA) amendment No. 1284 to bar assistance to international diplomatic entities that appoint Iran to leadership positions.
OTHER AMENDMENTS
Detainees: There are a host of amendments by Sens. Mark Udall (D-CO), Feinstein (D-CA) and Leahy (D-VT) to delete or modify detainee provisions in the bill agreed upon by Sens. Levin (D-MI) and McCain (R-AZ). The White House has threatened a veto over the Committee-approved measure. Numerous Senators have amendments to from the other direction.
Gay marriage: Wicker (R-MS) amendment No. 1056 to clarify that military chaplains are not required to perform a gay marriage; the House has a similar provision. The House bill also included a provision requiring the Pentagon to observe the Defense of Marriage Act.
Abortion: Shaheen (D-NH) amendments No. 1120 and 1121 on permitting abortions in case of rape or incest to be performed in military hospitals.
AMENDMENTS ALREADY CONSIDERED
Strategic airlift: Sens. Ayotte (R-NH) and Reed (D-RI) amendment No. 1065 to permit the Air Force to reduce the strategic airlift (cargo airplanes) inventory from 316 to 301, which they say will save $1.2 billion and supported by the Air Force, was adopted b
