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Colleen Hanabusa on Homeland Security

 

 


Shaped National Defense Authorization Act military roadmap

Hanabusa has gained a reputation as a policy wonk and someone who dives deep into the details of legislation. Nowhere is this more evident than on the House Armed Services Committee, where Hanabusa helped shape the National Defense Authorization Act, a complex bill that totals more than 700 pages.

The NDAA, as it's commonly referred, sets the spending priorities for the U.S. military and is of critical importance to Hawaii as the state is a major hub of defense activity. In a previous interview with Civil Beat, Hanabusa described the NDAA as the "roadmap" for the military.

She also played up its importance to the state. "Without it you can't get the money that you ultimately want to come into Hawaii," she said.

In 2014, when Hanabusa was running for the Senate against Schatz she boasted of securing hundreds of millions of dollars for the state through the NDAA, and said in interviews that she wanted to use military spending to generate more jobs on the islands.

Source: Honolulu Civil Beat on 2018 Hawaii gubernatorial race , Aug 7, 2018

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden should stand trial in US

Hanabusa said Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor in Hawaii who publicly released documents on government surveillance, should return to the United States and stand trial. "Yes, we learned a lot through what he did," she said. "But was he truly a whistleblower? Those are decisions that the court system has to determine."

Schatz said "I don't think he's a hero. But I think the main issue here is not so much what we think of Edward Snowden, but how we need to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to protect our Fourth Amendment rights under the Constitution."

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser on 2014 Hawaii Senate race , Jul 8, 2014

Spending on wars reduces resources at home

Our continued involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan sadly reduces the resources available to spend here at home. For the near future, our nation must focus on completing our military involvement in the Middle East with an outcome that is in the world's best interest, so that America can be at the vanguard of the global economic recovery.

I support increasing our investments in America's people and infrastructure, including aggressively expanding education and training initiatives.

Source: 2010 House campaign website, www.hanabusa2010.com, "Issues" , Nov 1, 2010

Voted NO on extending the PATRIOT Act's roving wiretaps.

    Congressional Summary: To prohibit Federal funding of National Public Radio and the use of Federal funds to acquire radio content, including:
  1. broadcasting, transmitting, and programming over noncommercial educational radio broadcast stations
  2. cooperating with foreign broadcasting networks
  3. assisting and supporting noncommercial educational radio broadcasting
  4. paying dues to such organizations
  5. or acquiring radio programs for public broadcast.

Proponent's Argument for voting Yes:
[Rep. Blackburn, R-TN]: This bill gets the Federal Government--and Federal taxpayers--out of the business of buying radio programming they do not agree with. This is a bill that is long overdue. Regardless of what you think of NPR, its programming or statements by its management, the time has come to cut the umbilical cord from the taxpayer support that has become as predictable as an entitlement program. Much has changed in the media landscape since the wiretaps, to seek certain business records, and to gather intelligence on lone terrorists who are not affiliated with a known terrorist group. The Patriot Act works. It has proved effective in preventing terrorist attacks and protecting Americans. To let these provisions expire would leave every American less safe.

Opponent's Argument for voting No:
[Rep. Conyers, D-MI]: Section 215 of the Patriot Act allows a secret FISA court to authorize our government to collect business records or anything else, requiring that a person or business produce virtually any type record. We didn't think that that was right then. We don't think it's right now. This provision is contrary to traditional notions of search and seizure which require the government to show reasonable suspicion or probable cause before undertaking an investigation that infringes upon a person's privacy. And so I urge a "no" vote on the extension of these expiring provisions.

Reference: FISA Sunsets Extension Act; Bill H.514 ; vote number 11-HV066 on Feb 17, 2011

Member of House Committee on Armed Services.

Hanabusa is a member of the House Committee on Armed Services

United States House Committee on Armed Services retains exclusive jurisdiction for: defense policy generally, ongoing military operations, the organization and reform of the Department of Defense and Department of Energy, counter-drug programs, acquisition and industrial base policy, technology transfer and export controls, joint interoperability, the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, Department of Energy nonproliferation programs, and detainee affairs and policy.

Source: U.S. House of Representatives website, www.house.gov 11-HC-AS on Feb 3, 2011

Restrict domestic monitoring of phone calls.

Hanabusa signed restricting domestic monitoring of phone calls

The Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2014 or the USA FREEDOM Act: Congressional Summary:

  • Requires the FBI, when seeking phone call records, to show both relevance and a reasonable suspicion that the specific selection term is associated with a foreign power engaged in international terrorism.
  • Requires a judge approving the release, on a daily basis, of call detail records; and to limit production of records to a period of 180 days.
  • Requires a declassification review of each decision issued by the FISA court; and make such decisions publicly available, subject to permissible redactions.

    Opposing argument: (ACLU, "Surveillance Reform After the USA Freedom Act", June 3, 2015): The USA Freedom Act that passed by a 67-32 margin is not as strong as we wanted. It is markedly weaker than the original version of the USA Freedom Act that the ACLU first supported in 2013. We supported a sunset of the provisions in an effort to advance more comprehensive reform, including rejecting surveillance through cybersecurity information-sharing legislation. Notwithstanding this, however, it is very clear that the USA Freedom Act is a historic step forward.

    Opposing argument: (Cato Institute , "Cato scholars differ on USA Freedom Act", Oct., 2015): The privacy community remained divided over the USA Freedom Act. The final version of the bill reauthorized several expiring Patriot Act provisions, but limited bulk collection. Some legislators argued that to pass new legislation would only provide the government convenient new legal justification for its spying--which it would interpret broadly. On the opposite side of the argument stood some pro-privacy groups who held that modest reforms were better than no reforms at all.

    Source: H.R.2048&S.2685 14-H2048 on Apr 28, 2015

    End bulk data collection under USA PATRIOT Act.

    Hanabusa co-sponsored USA FREEDOM Act

    Congressional summary:: Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ending Eavesdropping, Dragnet-collection, and Online Monitoring Act or the USA FREEDOM Act: