National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of the amendment to renew the 1-year ban on the Obama administration or any other administration from using any Department of Defense funds to implement the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, a treaty which, by the way, has never been ratified by our Senate.

Specifically, the amendment bans the use of Department of Defense funds for the ATT Secretariat, a body that was created for effectively implementing the ATT according to the treaty's supporters.

Last August, ATT member nations organized the Conference of States Parties to the ATT, a conference in which we did not have a vote and which decided that American taxpayers are now on the hook to pay 22 percent of the expenses of this annual meeting. This taxpayer money would go directly to the ATT Secretariat and become part of its core budget. My amendment prevents these hardworking American taxpayer dollars from flowing into the coffers of those who are working to implement the ATT.

I thank the chairman and the ranking member for including this in the en bloc amendment, and I urge all my colleagues to stand in support of our Second Amendment and of our Nation's sovereignty and vote in support of this amendment to renew the annual ban on the funding of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty.

Mr. O'ROURKE. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings).

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