MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with all Republican Judiciary Committee members, including Ranking Member Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), urged Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to call on Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Attorney David Weiss to testify regarding recent developments in the Hunter Biden tax investigation. 

The lawmakers are seeking answers to newly raised questions surrounding Weiss’s response to a previous letter sent by Graham, which sought clarification about whistleblower testimony.

“U.S. Attorney Weiss contends that the allegations in the FD-1023 ‘relate to an ongoing investigation.’ This raises further questions about the proposed terms of Hunter Biden's plea agreement and the scope of the ongoing investigation,” the senators wrote.

“In light of the foregoing discrepancies, both Attorney General Garland and U.S. Attorney Weiss must come before our Committee to clarify their statements regarding Mr. Weiss’s authority to charge in districts outside the District of Delaware. They must also explain what happened to the allegations that were provided to them in the FD-1023,” they continued.

“The seriousness of these developments cannot be overstated. The American people deserve the truth, and we have a responsibility to exercise our oversight authority to uncover the truth,” the lawmakers concluded.

The full letter is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the Senate with ample legislative wins for Louisiana communities and two bills Kennedy wrote to protect Americans from Communist China’s aggression. 

“Americans deserve to be protected by the world’s strongest, most capable troops, and our service members deserve to be well equipped. This bill raises their pay, funds key defense investments in Louisiana and takes significant steps to counter Chinese aggression,” said Kennedy. 

Pacific Islands Forum Partnership Act

The NDAA included the Pacific Islands Forum Partnership Act, which would combat Communist China’s aggression in the Pacific Ocean by establishing a special envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).  The PIF is an international organization of Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island nations.

Beijing recognizes that these nations are strategically located in the Pacific Ocean and has already established a special envoy to the PIF. The U.S only recently appointed its own special envoy after Kennedy filed his original bill last year, but Kennedy’s legislation would make the position permanent and confirmed by the Senate. A special envoy would help answer a diversity of threats from the communist regime by deepening trust and increasing dialogue on the Pacific Islands’ economic, cyber security and military concerns.

Holding Foreign Insiders Accountable Act

The national defense legislation included Kennedy’s Holding Foreign Insiders Accountable Act, which would hold executives of foreign companies that are traded on U.S. stock exchanges to the same disclosure requirements that U.S.-based firms are required to follow. 

Insiders at companies in Beijing and Moscow have been able to avoid billions in losses on the U.S. stock exchange by playing by a different set of rules than Americans do. This insider trading comes at a cost to American investors. Kennedy’s amendment would help stop opportunistic insider trading by requiring foreign executives to disclose trades immediately.

Military construction priorities for Louisiana

Kennedy helped secure numerous wins for Louisiana in the NDAA, including:

• $112 million for a weapons generation facility at Barksdale Air Force Base
• $13.4 million for an athletic track and field at Fort Johnson
• $7 million for a dormitory at Barksdale Air Force Base
• $7 million for a medical facility at Barksdale Air Force Base
• $6.4 million for a communications grid at Naval Air Station New Orleans
• $3.7 million for a dormitory at Camp Minden
• $2.4 million for a dormitory at Camp Beauregard
• $2 million for a child development center at Barksdale Air Force Base
• $2 million for a National Guard readiness center at Camp Beauregard

General defense wins

The NDAA:

• Provides for a 5.2% pay raise for military service members.

• Increases funding to recruit military service members.

• Supports the modernization of the U.S. nuclear force.

• Requires all military personnel action to be based on merit and performance. 

• Authorizes increased funding for cutting-edge technology to make American weapons more effective and resilient against enemy attacks.

• Supports requested funding to procure naval vessels, combat aircraft, armored vehicles, weapon systems and munitions.

• Improves America’s capabilities for long-term strategic competition with China. 

• Establishes a comprehensive training, advising and institutional capacity-building program for Taiwan’s military forces to help counter Chinese aggression.

• Supports U.S. defense activities relating to the security partnership among Australia, United Kingdom, and the United States, known as AUKUS, which also helps counter Chinese aggression. 

• Authorizes increased funding for Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard operations.

• Requires the DOD to prioritize basing, training, and exercises in NATO countries that achieve the goal of spending at least two percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024.

Watch Kennedy’s comments here.

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats today blocked Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-La.) amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to prohibit allocations of special drawing rights at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from going to perpetrators of genocide and state sponsors of terrorism unless Congress authorizes the allocation.

“The Biden administration shouldn’t be able to force U.S. taxpayers to line the pockets of Xi Jinping and other American adversaries. President Biden already green-lit a deal that bankrolled China and Iran.

“Congress is responsible for stewarding taxpayer money, and this amendment would have stopped the Biden administration from making an end run around the Constitution on behalf of the world’s worst dictators. Oppressive, hostile regimes work to undermine America’s safety and success every day, but the White House and Senate Democrats shouldn’t be helping them,” said Kennedy. 

President Biden previously agreed to a general allocation of special drawing rights at the IMF totaling $650 billion without consent from Congress. Large portions of that allocation flowed to dictators and countries that actively oppose American interests and violate human rights.

Background

The IMF distributes special drawing rights according to each country’s economic standing in the global economy. That means the world’s wealthiest countries received the most special drawing rights of all IMF members regardless of their hostility towards the U.S. or American interests. 

In August 2021, the IMF doled out more money in one general allocation than ever before. The $650 billion outlay of IMF special drawing rights, which are backed by the U.S. Treasury, sent money to America’s enemies. Iran gained access to about $4.5 billion through the deal, and China had a windfall of $40 billion. 

Text of Kennedy’s amendment is here.

View Kennedy’s comments here. 

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats today blocked an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) helped lead. Based on Kennedy’s Independent and Objective Oversight of Ukrainian Assistance Act, the amendment would establish a Lead Inspector General (IG) for Ukraine.

The Lead IG’s office would oversee the humanitarian, economic and security assistance funding that the U.S. Congress has provided to the country and make sure that the funds are appropriately spent.

“This money didn’t fall from heaven. It came out of people’s pocket. How can we possibly look the American people in the eye and say that we don’t want to assure them that this money will not be stolen? That’s all this bill does,” explained Kennedy on the Senate floor.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) led the legislation, and Sens. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) are all original co-sponsors of the amendment.

“American taxpayers deserve to know that their money is helping Ukraine defeat Putin effectively. Congress needs to guarantee that oversight, but Democrats refused tonight. This taxpayer investment is too big to relegate

to the normal bureaucratic channels within the Defense Department or State Department. It demands an inspector general with a singular focus on America’s return on investment in Ukraine,” Kennedy said after the vote.

The amendment would also ensure that members of Congress can access all classified reports from the Lead IG’s office and requires the IG to brief any committee or member within 15 days of the request. This provision would make dilatory behavior a violation of the law when it comes to members’ getting access to the Lead IG.

The amendment requires that all part-time Ukraine IG personnel work on Ukraine oversight full-time.

It includes an independent assessment to review whether the Lead IG responsibilities are negatively impacting an IG’s other duties. This independent assessment would also explicitly look at whether a Special IG, as Kennedy has advocated forpreviously, is more appropriate for Ukraine oversight. 

View Kennedy’s comments here.