Which Congressmen Voted to Pass the NDAA Bill in 2014?

As voting opportunities approach, it's interesting to see how present and past reps voted on the NDAA bill. In case you aren't aware, the NDAA bill was first signed by President Obama in December of 2011. It has passed through congressional approval with minor changes since then. When you begin to understand what exactly the bill states and stands for, then you may wonder how any U.S. citizen or U.S. politician could possibly support it. It seems to be a defining issue.

Though it has been slightly modified, the NDAA bill today still includes the right of the U.S. Government to enforce indefinite detention of untried U.S. citizens on U.S. soil without due process. Sound shocking? It probably should. It cuts against everything that the U.S. has stood for. Sadly, the congressional rep for New York in our area, Mr. Timothy Bishop, voted, "Aye", that is, in support of this bill. This bill is more in keeping with a Joseph Stalin gulag than a present-day democratic republic.

If you plan to vote for a congressmen in the upcoming elections, please do us all a favor and try to find out where you candidate stands on this issue and do not support anyone favorable to it. Whether you are fond of the Democrat, Republican or Independent party, there really is no excuse for supporting anyone who would vote in support of this type of bill.

The following is a link to a list of congressmen defining how they voted on the NDAA bill in 2014:

List of U.S. Congressmen who Voted in Support of the NDAA Bill

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/113-2013/h244

Many evangelical Christians avoid political questions of justice because they believe it is more "spiritual" to do so. However, this does not seem to mesh with scriptural verses admonishing believers to "do justice and love mercy" and to "be salt and light" in a corrupted world. Scriptures describe a God of high standards who would never allow injustice to go unanswered or unaddressed indefinitely. To imprison people indefinitely with no trial or opportunity for explanation or defense is simply inhumane. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote an incredibly poignant letter from the Birmingham jail addressing questions of unjust laws that would be helpful for Christians today to read. I believe that standing for truth and justice helps non-believers see the relevance of the gospel in everyday life.  And when Christians are willing to risk their own freedoms in order to take a stand, this brings home the reality of the gospel in their lives.

If the existence of God is truly the objective basis of ethics and morality, as logic demonstrates, then promoting justice is actually a form of acknowledging the holiness and beauty of God. Promoting justice is actually a form a worship in this sense.


In rolling back the right to a trial, the U.S. Government is rolling back democracy to antiquity and pre-Greco-Roman civilization. The Acts of the Apostles records how the Apostle Paul stood up for his right to a trial as a Roman citizen, due to the fact that he had been flogged and beaten without a trial: "They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans." (Acts 16.37)


Instead of voting to protect our most basic civil liberties, U.S. Congressmen have been  busy voting in favor of lightening their own insider trading restrictions:

How Congress Quietly Overhauled Its Insider-Trading Law

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/04/16/177496734/how-congress-quietly-overhauled-its-insider-trading-law

Only Five Lawmakers Turn Up At Historic Congressional Briefing On Drone Strikes
http://www.countercurrents.org/mccauley301013.htm

The gradual evisceration of justice in the U.S. seems to coincide with a general sense of apathy on the subject. A lot of Christians have been suckered into supporting the twisted values of neocon republican candidates simply because they believe it is choosing a lesser evil than supporting some "liberal" democratic candidates. There needs to be a bit more soul searching and thoughtful consideration, however, when it comes to understating what we are actually supporting and promoting as individuals and as a country.

Tags: How did congressmen vote on the NDA bill? List of congressmen voting for NDAA bill, congressmen vote to support insider trading, not freedom and civil liberties, NDAA bill as a defining issue, apathy of Christians on justice today, the Bible says, do justice and love mercy