Punishing the Pirates

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

When you think of pirates you may think of the man with the wooden leg, an eye patch and the parrot on his shoulder. Today, in the 21st century, although pirates may dress differently than their stereotypical model, the crime of piracy on the sea is still an issue.

The U.S. House Armed Services Committee today heard testimony from Vice Admiral William Gortney, Acting Principal Director of the Office of African Affairs for the U.S. Department of Defense, Daniel Pike, Ambassador Stephen Mull, Acting under Secretary for International Security and Arms Control for the U.S. State Department and Karl Wycoff, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs for the U.S. State Department on combating piracy on the high seas.

Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo) said in his opening statement: “Recent events in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia, however, make this very much a current and important issue for American national security.”

The hearing focused on how to tackle piracy and how to best reprimand those who are caught committing this offense on the seas.

Vice Admiral Gortney told the committee that “no-one is immune”. He said that pirates generally look for a “15-minute window of opportunity,” tackling “low and slow ships by pulling up alongside them”. Gortney added that these boats are hard to detect as “they look like fishing vessels.” The committee heard that piracy crimes are generally committed in the morning and as a result, “any ship less than three feet away, particularly in the morning, is treated as a suspected pirate ship,” he said.

Vice Admiral Gortney also stated that the failure to counter piracy threats was not the result of failed training. He said that measures were being taken in order to protect ships on the seas, such as “barbed-wire, look-out post and security patrols.”

Congressman Gene Taylor (D-Missi) asked Ambassador Mull whether a ship, targeted by pirates, baring the American flag, would be treated as committing an attack against America. Mull’s response was inconclusive, and Congressman Taylor and Chairman Skelton have asked the Ambassador to submit a written statement outlining in detail, to the committee how this crime is dealt with under international and domestic law.

Piracy is an issue being tackled by all nation states and the Combined Maritime Forces have established the Maritime Security Patrol Area in the Gulf of Aden to combine a united front to tackle piracy crime at sea.

McCain and Feingold tackle pork reform

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico - Talk Radio News Service

Today Senator John McCain (R-Ariz), Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis) and Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wis) spoke of their plans to reintroduce their version of the line item veto bill. Feingold said that the bill would allow the President to mark certain earmarks for reconsideration, have it sent back to Congress, and have each marked spending allocation voted on individually. If either chamber votes against rescinding the money by a simple majority vote, then the project would be funded.

The Supreme Court had previously struck down as unconstitutional McCain’s previous attempt to introduce a line item veto. McCain said that he wants to “get around” that decision by the Court through a new legislative effort, which McCain said would be fully constitutional.

All three members of Congress felt that this would be an important step towards reforming wasteful pork. Ryan said that this would bring accountability and common sense to the earmark process. McCain said that he anticipates it being difficult to pass, but Feingold said that this bill is important, because earmark money is “real money” that comes out of taxpayers pockets. Ryan went on to say that this is not a Republican or Democratic issue, but a “good government issue”.