State concerns aboard, 2 help pass defense bill

WASHINGTON -- Both Arkansas U.S. senators supported a defense-funding bill Friday that paves the way for two soldiers shot at a Little Rock military recruiting station to receive Purple Hearts and also helps create a national memorial to Desert Storm veterans.

The bill also included language that would affect the transfer of aircraft to Little Rock Air Force Base.

Democrat Mark Pryor and Republican John Boozman joined their colleagues to approve the National Defense Authorization Act by 89-11 vote Friday afternoon. The House passed it earlier in the week with the support of Arkansas' all-Republican House delegation.

Arkansas delegation members have repeatedly pushed for legislation granting the commendations.

On June 1, 2009, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, a radical convert to Islam, attacked the Little Rock Army-Navy Career Center in the Ashley Square Shopping Center on Rodney Parham Road. Muhammad is serving a life sentence in prison and has said he attacked the soldiers in retaliation for U.S. military actions in the Middle East.

Pvt. William Long, 23, of Conway, who enlisted in the infantry in January 2009, died. Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, then 18, of Jacksonville was wounded but survived. He enlisted in October 2008 as a heavy construction equipment operator.

Purple Heart recipients qualify for enhanced state and federal benefits.

The Purple Heart, which shows George Washington's profile on a purple background surrounded by a quarter-inch bronze border, is awarded by the president to military members killed or wounded in action, including in a terrorist attack, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The 2015 funding act changes the Purple Heart criteria so that service members and civilians who are victims of an attack inspired by terrorism receive the awards and recognition. The attack has to be inspired or motivated by a U.S. State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization.

The bill next goes to President Barack Obama.

Efforts to attach the provision to large pieces of legislation in the past sparked opposition.

In a 2012 policy statement, the Obama administration opposed its inclusion in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2013 because the attacks were prosecuted as state-level crimes, rather than as acts of terrorism. In a 2013 policy statement about the fiscal 2014 act, the administration said the proposal was "inconsistent with the award criteria for the Purple Heart."

Both times, the statement said the president's staff would urge Obama to veto the entire defense budget if the change to the Purple Heart criteria -- and several other sections of the bill -- weren't removed. No similar objections were raised this year.

Boozman said by phone that the difference was how hard members lobbied their colleagues.

"The entire delegation has worked really hard to make the case," he said. "We've been able to convince them that this is an injustice that should be righted."

The 2015 act doesn't guarantee that the soldiers receive a Purple Heart, but it significantly increases the chances, he said.

U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, a Republican from Little Rock, praised the change in a statement when the House passed the bill Dec. 4.

"Under the newly established criteria, there is no longer any excuse to refuse these men the Purple Heart," Griffin said.

In the 2014 Defense Authorization Act, the Department of Defense was instructed to review the circumstances of the Arkansas attack, as well as a shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, that killed 13 and wounded more than 30 people, and present the award if the victims were found to be eligible.

That review did not occur by the June deadline, prompting the state's four House members to send a letter to the department questioning why it had not occurred.

The $585 billion defense bill includes several other provisions that would affect Arkansas, according to Boozman's office.

One section proposed by Boozman requires the secretary of the Army to submit a report to Congress no later than March 15 on how the Army intends to modernize the Army National Guard's fleet of UH-60A aircraft. The Arkansas National Guard has a number of UH-60A Black Hawk helicopters. The A model is the oldest variant of the Black Hawk and is costly to maintain and operate because of the age of the airframe. The L and M models are newer, and this section asks for a plan from the Army on how they will phase in the more modern versions.

Another section requires a report to Congress before any C-130s are moved to different bases. Little Rock Air Force Base is supposed to receive 10 C-130Js from Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss.

The bill authorizes $351 million for the Israeli government to help pay for the Iron Dome short-range rocket defense system. A significant amount of work is performed on the Iron Dome system in Camden. Aerojet Rocketdyne produces the rocket motors for Iron Dome in Camden. The authorized amount is double what the president asked for.

Also included in the bill is a provision proposed by Boozman to create a National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial.

As with all memorials on federal property, Congress must authorize the land within Washington, D.C., for the site, and no federal funds would be used to construct the memorial.

Private funds to pay for the memorial would be raised by the National Desert Storm War Memorial Association, an Arkansas-based nonprofit.

A section on 12/13/2014