Inside Politics: Lawmakers urge Pentagon to buy U.S.-made uniforms

MILITARY

Lawmakers urge Pentagon to buy U.S.-made uniforms

Congressional Republicans and Democrats sent an irate letter Tuesday to a Pentagon official requesting that the U.S. military issue uniforms made in America, not China.

The letter to Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, urges compliance with the Berry Amendment, which requires the Pentagon to give preference to U.S.-made goods in its procurement practices.

The Air Force Times reported in June that Air ForceMaster Sgt. Steve Adachi was twice issued boots made in China, after repeated attempts to receive boots made in the U.S.

The letter initiative was led by Reps. Duncan Hunter, California Republican and member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Michael H. Michaud, Maine Democrat and member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

CAMPAIGN

Graham: Fort Hood shooting should be designated terrorism

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a senior GOP member of the Armed Forces Committee, on Tuesday said he sharply disagrees with the Department of Defense’s characterization of the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood in Texas as a case of workplace violence, not terrorism.

“I respectfully disagree with the Department of Defense decision to classify the Fort Hood shooting as workplace violence,” he said. “It’s not fair to the victims, and their families, for this incident to be described in that manner.”

Mr. Graham, a judge advocate general in the Air Force Reserves, pledged to work with his colleagues in the Senate to challenge the Pentagon’s characterization and push for an accurate description of the deadly rampage at the military post in Killeen, Texas, nearly three years ago that left 13 dead and 30 wounded.

Maj. Nadal Malik Hasan has been charged in the massacre.

Officially designating the attack as terrorism would make service-member victims eligible for Purple Heart medals, and, the victims say, grant them access to medical care and benefits similar to what soldiers wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan receive.

But late Friday the Department of Defense said it would not reclassify the attack “at this time,” citing concern that having the government weigh in could bias the case against Maj. Hasan, 42, who is awaiting trial and faces the death penalty if convicted.

GAY RIGHTS

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