Colorado Representatives Win Consideration Of 13 Amendments In Annual National Defense Spending Bill

By Sara Wilson, Colorado Newsline

July 13, 2022

Members of Colorado’s delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives have 13 amendments that will be considered in the next National Defense Authorization Act, the yearly legislation that authorizes funding levels for the country’s military.

Those 13 made it through the House Rules committee Tuesday, out of over 50 originally submitted by Colorado representatives.

An amendment to include Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act will be considered. The legislation has been a priority of the Democrat who represents Colorado’s 7th Congressional District and is retiring after this session. The bill made it into the House’s passed version of the NDAA last year, but it could not make it through the Senate. In total, it has passed the House five times since first being introduced in 2013.

The legislation’s purpose is to protect banks that choose to serve legitimate cannabis-related businesses in states where the drug is legal for medical or recreational purposes. Cannabis is still listed as a Schedule I drug by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, and the bill would prohibit federal regulators from penalizing banks that serve legitimate cannabis businesses. Some cannabis businesses resort to a cash-only model to work around the threat of federal penalties, and that leaves them vulnerable to violent crime.

“I’m trying to figure out every path possible to get this thing done so that fewer people are killed,” Perlmutter said during Tuesday’s hearing. “And this does involve international cartels, so that really is the nexus to the NDAA, the criminal international component to this.”

Two bipartisan amendments offered by Reps. Joe Neguse, a Democrat, and Doug Lamborn, a Republican, will also be considered in the NDAA. One would direct the Department of Labor to provide grants to nonprofit organizations that assist with service members’ transition to civilian life. The other would update a national training program for claims processors who review compensation claims for service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder.

None of the amendments Rep. Lauren Boebert introduced made it to order. She wanted to repeal the recently signed gun safety legislation and direct $1 billion to construction of the southern border wall, among other amendments.

The House began debate on the NDAA on Wednesday. The House Armed Services Committee maintains a dynamic floor tracker for amendments.

Other amendments from Colorado representatives that will be considered include:

• An amendment from Rep. Diana DeGette that would add text from the Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act
• An amendment from Neguse that would establish a $100 million annual grant program to conserve restoration and resilience lands and help communities respond to natural disasters and threats
• An amendment from Neguse that would increase details about topics discussed at an industry roundtable
• An amendment from Neguse that would define a covered civilian behavioral health provider
• An amendment from Neguse that would order an inventory of “heat islands” on military installations
• An amendment from Neguse that would direct maximum completion of the Continental Divide Trail by 2028
• An amendment from Neguse that would add text of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act and the Grand Canyon Protection Act
• An amendment from Neguse that would add text from the REPLACE Act to the bill, which would waive fees for replacing critical documents after major disasters
• An amendment from Rep. Ken Buck that would honor a Vietnam War veteran named Conor Cyr
• An amendment from Rep. Jason Crow that would authorize the Colorado National Guard’s FireGuard Program through 2026

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