St. Joseph News-Press - McCaskill Announces Hearing on Military Equipment Program

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By Ken Newton

In the beginning, the United States could not get enough of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. Then, there were enough.

Now, the so-called MRAPs, mass-produced to protect American fighting forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, have become a flashpoint in the attempted quelling of demonstrations in Ferguson, Mo.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill announced Thursday that she plans to hold a hearing in September to look at the federal program that allows local law enforcement jurisdictions to obtain the surplus armored vehicles and other military equipment.

No date has been set for the hearing, nor have witnesses been announced.

Ms. McCaskill, a Democrat, chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight. Early in the unrest in Ferguson, following a police shooting of an unarmed teenager, she called for authorities to "demilitarize" the situation.

The federal program at the heart of the hearing has its roots in the 1990 National Defense Authorization Act.

A provision in that legislation allows the defense secretary to transfer excess property -- firearms, vehicles, even aircraft -- from the military to state and local authorities, with an emphasis on those participating in anti-drug or anti-terrorism activities.

Locally, the Special Response Team of St. Joseph and Buchanan County got a 36,000-pound MRAP through the federal program.

Military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan found that the majority of casualties in those wars came from improvised explosive devices. In 2007, Defense Secretary Robert Gates made the MRAP program a priority, and Congress bought in.

Between the initial appropriation and when the program ended in October 2012, manufacturers rolled out about 28,000 MRAPs.

Other jurisdictions in Missouri have taken advantage of the federal program. Cape Girardeau County got an MRAP earlier this year. Christian County took delivery of one in June, as did Clay County.

Lawmakers other than Ms. McCaskill have taken notice of the distribution of federal military equipment through the Defense Department's "1033 Program."

Congressman Hank Johnson, a Georgia Democrat, has introduced legislation called the "Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act." With it, he wants to restrict the "1033 Program" and added provisions to make it more transparent in its reporting.

"Militarizing America's main streets won't make us any safer, just more fearful and more reticent," he said in a statement Wednesday.

Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, also weighed in, writing after the Ferguson turmoil began, "Washington has incentivized the militarization of local police precincts by using federal dollars to help municipal governments build what are essentially small armies."

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