WAIT, WHAT

PKK accuses Turkey of using tactical nuclear weapons in Iraqi Kurdistan


Kurdistan Communities Union spokesman Zagros Hiwa

KURDISTAN Workers Party (PKK) commander Duran Kalkan accused Turkey of using “tactical nuclear weapons” in Iraqi Kurdistan today as he said that lawyers were looking into the claims.

The outlandish claim was made despite Turkey not being a nuclear weapons state and not having been previously accused of having any nuclear weapons capacity. Turkey is a signatory to the Non-proliferation treaty, although President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made past references to its right to acquire such weaponry.

No radiation spike associated with a nuclear blast has been reported.

He said members of the Kurdish resistance movement made the claim after they escaped from the Tepe Sor area close to the Iraqi-Turkish border earlier this month.

Mr Kalkan, who lives in a base deep inside Iraqi Kurdistan’s Qandil mountains, said that Turkish army officials have admitted to using nuclear weapons in the 1990s.

Retired air force general Erdogan Karakus told the CNN Turk news channel in a broadcast in March: “We [Turkey] have been using tactical nuclear weapons since the 1990s. In the Ukraine war, this weapon is also used. We also have these weapons and we use them.”

According to the PKK official, the broadcast was then interrupted.

Turkey has been accused of hundreds of chemical attacks in its war and occupation of Iraqi Kurdistan which began in April 2021.

Credible evidence has been presented for the claims and the Morning Star has met with the victims of the alleged use of banned munitions as well as medics and regional political leaders.

Ankara has carried out a number of war crimes in its daily bombing of Iraqi Kurdistan which has targeted Kurdish villages, the UN-administered Makhmour refugee camp and a Yazidi hospital.

Mr Kalkan, who has a $5 million (£4.1m) US bounty on his head, said there has been “absolute silence” over the chemical attacks from world bodies which emboldens Turkey in its dirty war on Kurds.

Speaking to the Morning Star, Kurdistan Communities Union spokesman Zagros Hiwa said that guerilla fighters had experienced “shockwaves from bomb blasts that do not resemble the blast of conventional bombs.”

“They say, ‘not only the cave, but all the earth was shaking when the bombs exploded.’

“We felt a huge electric shock in our bodies, as if we had touched a high-voltage wire and felt as if our bodies were torn apart,” Mr Hiwa explained.

No concrete evidence has however been presented for the alleged use of tactical nuclear warheads.

Turkey is not included in the list of declared nuclear states, however, there are known to be at least 70 warheads stationed in Incirlik airbase in the south of the country.

They are held there under the Nato weapons sharing agreement, which allows “non-nuclear” states to host the missiles under the guard of the nuclear power — in this case, the United States.

It is believed that Turkey controls around 40 of the weapons, although it would likely require US permission to use them as they are thought to be protected with Permissive Action Links.

Republican Peoples Party lawmaker Aytug Atici accused the government of “concealing the existence of B61 tactical nuclear bombs at Incirlik from the public” in December 2016, demanding immediate answers.

MORNINGSTAR

Tunisia trade unions chief rejects IMF reforms

The head of Tunisia's powerful UGTT trade union has rejected conditions set by the IMF to bail out the North African country's crisis-hit economy

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
23 June, 2022

Noureddine Taboubi said the living conditions of Tunisians made the reforms demanded by the IMF inappropriate [Getty]


The head of Tunisia's powerful UGTT trade union confederation on Thursday rejected conditions set by the International Monetary Fund for a new loan to bail out the country's struggling economy.

"We reject the conditions set by the IMF, given Tunisians' low salaries, lack of means, rising poverty and unemployment," Noureddine Taboubi told reporters.

The global lender has called for "ambitious reforms" to tackle the heavily indebted country's public finances and reform its state-owned companies.

The IMF's regional chief Jihad Azour said Wednesday that the fund was set to begin formal talks on a new financial aid package "in the coming weeks", saying the economic fallout from the Ukraine war made it ever more pressing.

Azour had reiterated an IMF call for "swift implementation of ambitious reforms", saying Tunisia "needs to urgently tackle its fiscal imbalances" including by replacing generalised subsidies with transfers targeting the poor.

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But on Thursday Taboubi, whose union members last week staged a crippling public sector strike, said the UGTT rejected "the painful options they're talking about".

"We support reforms, but we don't share the vision of reforms supported by this government," he said.

He also indirectly criticised President Kais Saied, who in July last year sacked the previous administration and suspended parliament in moves opponents have called a coup against the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings.

The UGTT, a co-laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts in a previous national dialogue following Tunisia's 2011 revolution, initially backed Saied's moves but has become increasingly critical as Saied extended his power grab.

On Thursday, Taboubi said: "When there is a government produced by institutions and elections, it will have the legitimacy to start negotiations over reforms."

The IMF has previously conditioned any bailout deal on the union's consent.

Azour visited Tunisia this week, meeting with President Kais Saied and other officials, and welcomed government plans to start tackling dire economic issues exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.

Horrific videos of employer assaulting workers in Lebanon sparks fury

Amani Hamad, Al Arabiya English
Published: 23 June ,2022

Videos showing a group of Lebanese and Syrian workers being assaulted and tortured by their employer in the Lebanese town of Majdel al-Aqoura sparked fury on Wednesday, according to local media reports.

The employer accused the cherry-picking workers of stealing a watch and sunglasses from him, charges which they denied.

In one of the videos seen by Al Arabiya English, the employer slaps the workers – some of whom have been stripped of their clothes.

According to An-Nahar, the employer and other men also assaulted the workers with sharp objects and electric wires. They also stuffed the young workers’ mouths with potatoes.


A screengrab from the videos shows the workers being assaulted by their employer who accused them of theft. (Supplied)

Videos of the incident stirred an uproar on social media with people demanding security forces launch an investigation and hold the perpetrators accountable.

The general directorate of the internal security forces issued a statement on Wednesday saying that on June 20, a man filed a complaint stipulating that several people who work for him stole 20 million Lebanese liras from him, the equivalent of about $700 using the unofficial rate.

The statement identified the man as the employer who assaulted the workers, adding that an investigation has been initiated into the incident and the employer has been summoned to give in a statement.

The municipality of Fneidik in the governorate of Akkar where some of the workers live issued a statement describing the incident as a “heinous crime,” adding that the employer falsely accused them of theft because he did not want to pay them their wages.

On Thursday, MP Michel Moussa, the chairman of the parliamentary human rights committee, condemned the “abhorrent torture” of the young men, and called for arresting the perpetrators a

TotalEnergies refinery strikes to go ahead, CGT union official says

Rowena Edwards
Thu, 23 June 2022, 

The TotalEnergies logo sits on the company's headquarter skyscraper 

in the La Defense business district in Paris

By Rowena Edwards

(Reuters) -French trade union CGT plans to go ahead with a 24-hour strike on Friday at TotalEnergies’ oil refineries in France after talks with CEO Patrick Pouyanne on Wednesday fell through, CGT official Thierry Defresne told Reuters.

The CGT plans to halt deliveries by truck, train and pipeline, with only minimum flow for production units at TotalEnergies’ five refineries in France.

The union is calling for an immediate increase in wages to compensate for rising inflation, and as TotalEnergies’ earnings surge on soaring oil and gas prices.

All unions planning to be involved in the strike action met with a TotalEnergies committee on Wednesday, but Pouyanne's response to demands was insufficient to stop strike action from taking place, Defresne said.

If an immediate wage increase is not met, this will be “only the beginning of a process that will lead to blocking activity,” CGT coordinator of TotalEnergies Group Eric Selleni wrote in a letter to Pouyanne dated June 20.

TotalEnergies declined to comment.

(Additional reporting by Benjamin Mallet in Paris;editing by David Goodman and Jason Neely)

US gas pipeline leaks occur every 40 hours: report

BY SHARON UDASIN - 06/23/22 

U.S. natural gas pipelines are experiencing the equivalent of one leak every 40 hours, a new report has found.

From 2010 to 2021, almost 2,600 such leaks occurred that were serious enough to require federal reporting — with 850 resulting from fires and 328 from explosions, according to the study, released by U.S. Public Interest Research Groups (U.S. PIRG) Educational Fund.

These incidents killed 122 people and injured 603, with total costs in property damage, emergency services and the value of unintentionally released gas totaling nearly $4 billion, the authors observed.

Such events also led to the leakage of 26.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas — the equivalent to more than 2.4 million passenger vehicles driven for a year, according to the report, published together with Environment America Research & Policy Center and the Frontier Group think tank.

“House explosions and leaking pipelines aren’t isolated incidents — they’re the result of an energy system that pipes dangerous, explosive gas across the country and through our neighborhoods,” co-author Matt Casale, environment campaigns director for U.S. PIRG Education Fund, said in a statement.

“It’s time to move away from gas in this country and toward safer, cleaner electrification and renewable energy,” he added.

To draw their conclusions, Casale and his colleagues sifted through federal leak reporting data available through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

The authors — who referred to natural gas by its primary component of methane rather than using the word “natural” — stressed that the amount of gas leaking into the environment is likely far greater than the quantity captured in federal leak reporting.

Citing a Science study from 2018, they noted that leaks from gas lines over two decades had nearly doubled the climate impact of natural gas.

The resultant warming was on par with that of carbon dioxide-emitting coal plants, the study found, noting that while methane doesn’t persist in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide does, its warming effects are much stronger.

Natural gas releases can occur intentionally when a utility needs to lower pressure or empty pipelines for maintenance, or they can happen due to wear, equipment failure, natural causes, accidental force or puncture, according to the U.S. PIRG report.

While Environmental Protection Agency data showed that emissions from natural gas transmission had fallen significantly between 1990 and 2016, progress has slowed since, the authors found. 

They also expressed concern that some information regarding deaths and injuries might not be available in the federal leak reporting database, since not all the leaks occur in the pipeline system.

A considerable volume of leaks might be overlooked particularly in urban areas, the report found, citing a 2021 Harvard University study.

That study, they explained, found that methane emissions from natural gas infrastructure and use in U.S. cities was two to 10 times greater than federal estimates indicated. Meanwhile, Boston’s emissions were six times higher than those reported by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

More than half of those emissions came from non-pipeline sources both in and out of homes, according to the U.S. PIRG report.

“Leaks, fires and explosions are reminders that transporting methane gas is dangerous business,” report lead author Tony Dutzik, associate director and senior policy analyst at Frontier Group, said in a statement.

Moving forward, the report authors recommended that the U.S. curb its reliance on natural gas for home heating and cooking as well as for electricity generation.

They argued that policymakers should instead incentivize the transition to all-electric buildings and renewable energy. And in the interim, they suggested focusing gas infrastructure investments on fixing leaks.

“Fully protecting the public requires us to reduce our dependence on gas,” Dutzik added.

Amazon feature has Alexa speaking in voice of late relative

By Trevor MoggJune 22, 2022 

Whether you find it comforting or creepy rather depends on your disposition, but Amazon has found a way to get Alexa to speak in the voice of anyone — including a deceased relative.

The feature was explained by Rohit Prasad, senior vice president and head scientist for the Alexa team, during Amazon’s Re:Mars conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, June 22.

Prasad said engineers had deployed A.I. technology to create a way for its digital assistant to mimic a voice after listening to “less than a minute” of recorded audio of the person speaking, while before hours of studio recordings would’ve been required.

In a demonstration video played at the event, a child says, “Alexa, can Grandma finish reading me The Wizard of Oz?” After acknowledging the child’s request in its usual voice, Alexa began speaking in a voice very similar to that of the child’s grandmother.

Prasad said engineers are still working on improving what is essentially a deepfake feature, and declined to say when Amazon might release it so that interested customers can get long-gone Grandad back up and running.

If raising the dead seems a bit much, you could also get Alexa to speak in the voice of someone living, such as your child, brother, sister, mom, dad, best buddy, or even yourself.

But at Wednesday’s event, Prasad highlighted the fact that the feature could be used to retain the memory of a loved one who has passed away, noting how many people have lost special people during the pandemic.

“While A.I. can’t eliminate that pain of loss, it can definitely make the memories last,” he said.

The feature is one step away from enabling people to have natural and meaningful conversations with the dearly departed that include opinions and references to past events linked to that person, similar to an early Black Mirror episode (Be Right Back, season 2) where a woman is able to communicate with her late partner through messaging.

Amazon has made a small move toward this with Alexa’s Conversation Mode, which is aimed at offering more natural voice experiences with the digital assistant. Marry this with the voice of a deceased relative, and feed in some personality data for Amazon’s A.I. to process, and science fiction could soon become science fact.

Echoes of 1974 as NHS staff are compared to striking miners who brought down Tory government

A leading historian says NHS staff could play the role of the striking miners that brought down Edward Heath’s Conservatives in 1974.

By Christopher McKeon
Tuesday, 21st June 2022

Jim Tomlinson, professor of economic and social history at Glasgow University, said Britain was not heading back to the 1970s despite similar concerns over inflation and industrial action.

He said: “Clearly there are similarities, and most obviously the kind of supply side shock of higher oil prices, but beyond that I think so many things are different.”

One key difference Prof Tomlinson identified was not only the size of trade unions but their symbolic importance.

Miners march along Princes Street: Leading the rally are some familiar names including NUM leaders Joe Gormley, and Mick McGahey, plus politicians Jim Sillars and the late John Smith.

He said: “I think the line-up is very, very different. There are no coal miners, to state the bleeding obvious, who had a substantive and symbolic importance in the early 1970s.

“Coal miners as the symbol of the unionised working class have simply disappeared. I don’t think railway workers have the same place in political argument that coal miners did.”

However, Prof Tomlinson suggested NHS staff could pose a greater political risk to the Government if they decided to begin industrial action.

He said: “I think that’s politically the hardest thing for them to deal with.

“With railway workers, it’s pretty easy to mobilise a story about commuters being workers too. But politically, the NHS is kind of like coal miners in the 70s.

“NHS workers are regarded more sympathetically than railway workers.”

In one sense, Prof Tomlinson said, an NHS strike could be more damaging to the Government than the strikes of the early 1970s or the Winter of Discontent in 1978-9 as it employs a larger proportion of the workforce than the industries that walked out in the 1970s.

NHS nurses backed strikes in a vote in December 2021 but failed to secure the 50% turnout required before industrial action can take place.

Rising inflation and restraint on public sector pay has sparked fears that another ballot could be more successful, leading to a walkout among NHS staff.

Prof Tomlinson added: “The NHS is now the biggest employer in Britain by a mile and it’s highly unionised.

“It’s one area where, in a sense, the 70s are still there.”

He also said that greater inequality now, combined with the greater impact of inflation on lower paid, public sector workers meant the “standard rhetorical arguments” about corporate profits and bosses’ salaries rising could have more impact.

Prof Tomlinson said: “Obviously, union negotiators always say that, but there’s a much greater sense of inequality today.

“We’ve seen inequality, bankers’ bonuses shooting up and corporate profits rising, so there’s much more substance to the claim that inflation is being much more differentially felt than in the 70s.”

 UK teachers’ strike would be 'unforgivable', Nadhim Zahawi says

Secretary's comments follow the National Education Union saying it plans to consult teaching staff

A schoolteacher next to piles of classroom books. PA

Soraya Ebrahimi
Jun 22, 2022

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said teachers going on strike would be “irresponsible”, as the biggest teachers’ union warned of industrial action over pay and workload.

Mr Zahawi said such a move would be "unfair" after the upheaval to children’s learning caused by the pandemic.

The National Education Union said on Wednesday that it would consult its members in the autumn, “strongly encouraging them” to back industrial action if the government did not respond to its concerns in the next few months.

“Young people have suffered more disruption than any generation that’s gone before them and to compound that now, as recovery is in full swing and families are thinking about their next big step following school or college, would be unforgivable and unfair,” Mr Zahawi wrote in The Daily Telegraph.

The union said pay cuts and high workload were hitting teacher recruitment and retention, causing “real damage” to education.
It criticised the government’s evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body proposing a 3 per cent pay increase for most teachers in England.

The union said that would mean a “huge” pay cut on the basis of Wednesday’s inflation figures of 9.1 per cent on the CPI measure and 11.7 per cent for RPI.

NEU deputy general secretary Niamh Sweeney told Sky News that a teachers’ strike was “more likely than it’s been in my 20 years of working in the profession”.

“Teachers are saying to us that they are finding it difficult to get to the end of the month," Mr Sweeney said. "Their heating bills and their fuel bills means that they are struggling to survive."

In a letter to Mr Zahawi, the union called for a fully funded inflation-plus pay increase greater than inflation for all teachers, as well as action on pay for other staff such as support workers, and ways to reduce workloads.


The minister was told that teachers' pay has fallen by a fifth in real terms since 2010, even before this year’s increases in inflation, while their workload remains at “unsustainable” levels.

“Alongside the decline in teacher pay in real terms against inflation, it has also declined in relative terms against earnings," the letter says.

“Average teacher salaries are at their lowest level compared to average earnings across the economy in over 40 years.

“Teachers and school leaders often tell us that workload is their predominant concern but right now, our members are telling us pay is a big issue too.

“The combination of unsustainable hours, the work intensity during those hours and ever-falling pay levels are damaging our schools and the young people we are educating.

“Teachers are looking at their working hours and their pay and calculating hourly rates, which are alarmingly low.

“The latest teacher training figures are very worrying; applications have fallen by 24 per cent compared with last year.

“One in eight newly qualified teachers left the job in their first year of teaching. These young people have often finished a degree, then completed a postgraduate qualification.

“They are a great loss to the profession, but more importantly to the nation’s pupils who rely on their teachers to educate and care for them.

“You must respond to the new economic reality of double-digit inflation and the threat this poses to teacher living standards.


“We call on you to commit to an inflation-plus increase for all teachers. It is not good enough to only propose higher increases for beginner teachers (which are themselves likely to be lower than inflation).

“The current inaction from the government on these questions is causing real damage to education and to our members’ livelihoods.

“We have to tell you that failing sufficient action by you, in the autumn term, we will consult our members on their willingness to take industrial action.

“And we will be strongly encouraging them to vote yes. We can no longer stand by while you run both education and educators into the ground.”

UK rail workers stage their second strike of the week after talks fail

Thousands of railway workers were staging their second strike of the week on Thursday after talks failed to resolve a bitter row over pay, jobs and conditions (James Manning/PA)

THU, 23 JUN, 2022 - 
ALAN JONES, PA INDUSTRIAL CORRESPONDENT

Thousands of UK railway workers were staging their second strike of the week on Thursday after talks failed to resolve a bitter row over pay, jobs and conditions.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail and 13 train operators will take industrial action, crippling services across the UK.

Only around one in five trains will run and mainly on main lines during the day.

Ahead of the strike, the Government announced plans to change the law to enable businesses to supply skilled agency workers to plug staffing gaps during industrial action.

Ministers pointed out that under current trade union laws, employment businesses are restricted from supplying temporary agency workers to cover for strikers, saying it can have a “disproportionate impact”.

The legislation will repeal the “burdensome” legal restrictions, giving businesses impacted by strike action the freedom to tap into the services of employment businesses who can provide skilled, temporary agency staff at short notice, said the government.

Network Rail welcomed the move but Labour and unions condemned it as a “recipe for disaster.”

We will continue with our industrial campaign until we get a negotiated settlement that delivers job security and a pay rise for our members that deals with the escalating cost-of-living crisis

The RMT accused Transport Secretary Grant Shapps of “wrecking” negotiations.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Grant Shapps has wrecked these negotiations by not allowing Network Rail to withdraw their letter threatening redundancy for 2,900 of our members.

“Until the Government unshackle Network Rail and the train operating companies, it is not going to be possible for a negotiated settlement to be agreed.

“We will continue with our industrial campaign until we get a negotiated settlement that delivers job security and a pay rise for our members that deals with the escalating cost-of-living crisis.”

Mr Shapps hit back, saying the RMT claim was a “lie”.

Tory Minister Grant Shapps denied he has ‘wrecked’ negotiations (Aaron Chown/PA)

Meanwhile, members of the drivers’ union Aslef on Greater Anglia will strike on Thursday in a separate dispute over pay.

The company, which is also affected by the RMT strike, advised passengers to travel only if it was necessary.

The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) announced that its members at Merseyrail had accepted a 7.1% pay offer.

General secretary Manuel Cortes said: “What this clearly shows is our union, and sister unions, are in no way a block on finding the solutions needed to avoid a summer of discontent on the railways.

“Rather, it is the Government who are intent on digging in their heels. Grant Shapps would be wise to start talking seriously to our union as we ballot for industrial action on our railways up and down the land.”

A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson: “With passenger numbers still at only 80% of pre-pandemic levels the industry remains committed to giving a fair deal on pay while taking no more than its fair share from taxpayers.

We call on the RMT leadership to continue to talk so that we can secure a thriving long-term future for the railway and its workforce

“We can only achieve that by making improvements – like offering better services on a Sunday – that reflect the changing needs of passengers so we can attract more back.

“We call on the RMT leadership to continue to talk so that we can secure a thriving long-term future for the railway and its workforce.

“Our advice to passengers remains the same, only travel by rail if absolutely necessary, check before you travel and make sure you know the time of your first and last trains.”

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that the RMT have again chosen to walk away from negotiations without agreeing a deal. We remain available for talks – day or night – and will do everything we can to avoid further disruption for our passengers.

“As a result of this needless and premature strike, rail services will look much like they did on Tuesday – starting later in the morning and finishing much earlier in the evening (around 6.30pm).

“We are asking passengers to please check before you travel, be conscious of when your last available train is departing, and only travel by train if necessary.”

SOLIDARITY A WORKING CLASS VALUE
Zarah Sultana among Labour MPs defying Keir Starmer to back striking rail workers

She was pictured with nine other MPs on a picket line at London’s Victoria Station yesterday



By Enda Mullen

 22 JUN 2022

An RMT picket line at Coventry railway station and inset Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana

Coventry MP Zarah Sultana is among a number of Labour MPs who have shown support for this week’s rail strikes - and by doing so defied Keir Starmer. The Labour leader ordered senior Labour MPs not to show support for the strikes, however not all have followed those orders.

Ms Sultana was pictured with nine other MPs on a picket line at London’s Victoria Station yesterday (Tuesday) on the first day of the strike, which resumes again tomorrow and will also take place on Saturday. And the Coventry South MP also voiced her support for striking rail workers on Twitter.

She said: “Polling shows that 58% of the public back the rail and tube strikes. There’s a simple reason for that: by striking for fair wages. @RMTunion members are fighting for all working people against greedy profiteers."

READ MORE: Coventry train station a ghost town as services all but grind to a halt

Frontbenchers Kate Osborne, Paula Barker and Navendu Mishra are also among those to have tweeted pictures of themselves at picket lines. The Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar also offered “solidarity” to the strikers.

It is understood that Labour may take disciplinary action against frontbench MPs who defy the call not to appear on picket lines, but it’s not expected immediately. Millions of rail passengers in England, Scotland and Wales have been hit by the strike, which started on Tuesday and is due to continue on Thursday and Saturday.

The RMT union - whose members voted to strike - is asking for a pay rise of at least seven per cent to offset the rising cost of living, but it says employers have offered a maximum of three per cent, on condition they also accept job cuts and changes to working practices.

The Conservatives have accused Labour of failing to condemn the industrial action. Locally Meriden Conservative MP Saqib Bhatti was critical of Labour’s support of rail strikes.


VIEW GALLERY

He said: “I know that in my constituency, many people rely on rail services to get to work or school. These are people who just want to go about their daily business without having to worry about how they will get to their workplace or worried about the possibility of missing out on their education because they cannot get to school.

"I believe it speaks volumes that when families are facing global cost of living pressures, Labour are more concerned with backing national strikes which will disrupt than helping people in their time of need. I strongly urge Labour to abandon their support for the strike and instead join me in standing up for the rights of hardworking people adversely affected by Labour’s distressing attempt to play political games.”

Meriden Conservative MP Saqib Bhatti in Parliament

A former adviser to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has warned there will be an “explosion” if the party disciplines any frontbenchers joining picket lines in support of striking rail workers. Simon Fletcher, who also advised former leaders Jeremy Corbyn and Ed Miliband, said there has been “a lot of simmering resentment and irritation” over the party’s current position.

READ MORE
Unions warn UK rail strikes could last for months after negotiations fail

BETTER SPENT ON DAY CARE 

House panel votes for $37B boost to proposed 2023 defense budget as senators look to spend even more

By SVETLANA SHKOLNIKOVA
STARS AND STRIPES • June 22, 2022

WASHINGTON — The House Armed Services Committee agreed Wednesday to exceed the Biden administration’s fiscal 2023 defense spending plan by $37 billion, setting up a potential clash with senators who want to increase the budget even more.

Committee members, led by a months long push by Republicans, voted 42-17 in support of the overall increase, citing record inflation, the immediate threat of Russian aggression and China’s rising military power. The increase is $8 billion less than the $847 billion bill approved last week by the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“In our current threat environment … it’s time to grow out military, not shrink our military,” said Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va.

She said she hoped the ultimate agreement for the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy and funding levels for the military, will be “somewhat north” of the $37 billion boost.

The White House requested $813 billion for national defense next fiscal year, including $773 billion for the Pentagon. The House panel’s adopted amendment authorizes extra money for military construction, fuel, bonuses and other support to offset inflation as well as additional ships and aircraft and more aid for Ukraine.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the committee’s chairman, argued against bumping up the budget he had proposed — $802.4 billion — and said lawmakers need to focus on quality rather than quantity.

“I care as much about how the money is spent as I do about how much is spent,” he said. “I think making sure the Pentagon has some fiscal discipline and is forced to make tough decisions and not just always rely on another pot of money coming along is crucial for modernization.”

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., took issue with the amendment’s plan to save five Freedom-class littoral combat ships that the Navy wanted to retire. She described the ships as “lemons” that are plagued with functionality problems and cost $59 million a year each to maintain.

“This is ridiculous and it’s shameful that we are restoring five of these decommissioned ships into service when all we’re going to do is spend money towing them back to port,” Speier said before voting against the overall budget increase.

The amendment authorizes $318 million for the cost of restoring the ships. It also earmarks $660 million for eight additional F/A-18s jets, $1.3 billion for nine more Navy and U.S. Marine Corps aircraft than requested, $1.2 billion for additional air and missile defense systems as well as other weapons and systems procurements.

Provisions in the amendment specifically target the effect of inflation on service members and the Defense Department, authorizing $3.5 billion to keep pace with military construction costs, $2.5 billion to offset the rising cost of fuel and $1.4 billion for bonuses, commissary subsidies and other financial support for personnel. The amendment also authorizes $1 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and supports costs for planning troop presence in Europe on NATO’s eastern flank.

House lawmakers also voted Wednesday to add another amendment requiring TRICARE, the military’s health insurance, to provide free contraceptives to service members, their spouses and dependents. The Affordable Care Act eliminated copays and deductibles for contraception under most commercial health plans for civilians in 2012.

“Why are we burdening our service members with this additional cost, which can be significant, when we pay them little as it is,” said amendment sponsor Speier. “This is about fundamental fairness.”

Another approved amendment called for the secretary of the Army to establish gender-neutral fitness standards that are higher for soldiers likely to see combat than those with less physical jobs. The Senate panel approved a similar proposal last week.

“It is obvious that a 100-pound artillery shell or a 150-pound rucksack or a 200-pound soldier that has to be moved to the top of a hill is different than using a keyboard,” said Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., the amendment’s sponsor. “At the end of the day, this is about the standards that all Americans who want to serve this country need to meet to win wars. The jobs are different, and therefore they should have different standards.”

Other amendments adopted Wednesday pave the way for the creation of a Space National Guard and authorize $45 million to continue the development of a sea-launched cruise missile program that President Joe Biden’s administration had wanted to scrap.

As the House Armed Services Committee continued deliberations Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee voted to approve $761 billion for defense spending that is in line with the White House’s budget request. Congress will spend the next few months reconciling the differences in priorities and funding before bringing a final bill to a floor vote.

SVETLANA SHKOLNIKOVA
covers Congress for Stars and Stripes. She previously worked with the House Foreign Affairs Committee as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow and spent four years as a general assignment reporter for The Record newspaper in New Jersey and the USA Today Network. A native of Belarus, she has also reported from Moscow, Russia.

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