Hunter, Duncan Lee
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Revision as of 17:07, 1 July 2006
Duncan Lee Hunter represents the 52nd Congresional District of the State of California.
Contents
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Dumpin' Duncan
Scandal and waste
Trouble brewing
Congressman wants island open to hunting
"This is a wonderful opportunity for paralyzed veterans and severely disabled veterans to have an opportunity for a high-quality outdoor experience," said Hunter, who chairs the Armed Services Committee.
The plan has drawn vehement protests from the Park Service and Democratic lawmakers, who said hunting blocks public access and interferes with indigenous plants and animals.
"What we need to be focusing on are the purposes for which national parks were set aside, and hunting is not one of those purposes," said Russell Galipeau, superintendent of Channel Islands National Park.
"Duncan Hunter never contacted us," said Will Woolley, a Vail family member who also works as a hunting guide on the island. "It makes me nervous. It's not spelled out what our future would be."
Hunter's legislation contains no details on how the deer and elk would be managed once the 2011 deadline has passed, or how the hunts - which now cost from $1,800 to $17,000 - would be made affordable for veterans.
Hunter contends it would not be difficult for the government to run free hunts at no cost to taxpayers, something his opponents dispute.
Disabled veterans' group likes island hunting idea
http://venturacountystar.com/vcs/news/article/0,1375,VCS_121_4765388,00.html
The animals on Santa Rosa Island are massive, prized trophies among hunters who are willing to spend anywhere from $1,000 to $17,000 for a trip there. Warren said disabled hunters could hunt from blinds or cars, which is legal in California with a special permit.
But the National Park Service said keeping hunting on the island greatly limits public access, negatively affects endangered species such as the island fox and compromises the integrity of archaeological sites there.
"There are military bases that provide hunting opportunities for veterans," said Kate Faulkner, chief of natural resources management for Channel Islands National Park. "There is no value added I see in going to Santa Rosa Island."
Hunter, R-Alpine, was successful in his third try at introducing legislation that would continue hunting on the island past 2011. He attached an amendment to a defense authorization bill, which passed the House and is now in the Senate. But California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein introduced successful legislation that would counter Hunter's bill. The two bills will be reconciled in committee.
Park Service officials were hoping to use Friday's tour as an opportunity to show the PVA the value in returning Santa Rosa Island to a natural state, she said.
"This is the chance for the Park Service to explain the purpose of the national park and show the beauty of Santa Rosa Island ... and why deer and elk are not part of the long-term goals," she said.
Warren dismissed claims that leaving the game on the island could affect the endangered species.
"Things happen; we lose animals all the time," he said. "We can't save every animal out there. It just happens."
Hunter has never been on Santa Rosa Island
Now Duncan Hunter has never been on Santa Rosa Island, that part of the Channel Islands National Park system where Roosevelt elk and mule deer make for some great trophy hunting.
Yet for the third time in less than a year, the Alpine Republican is trying to void a court settlement that would end hunting on the island by 2011.
His most recent effort appears to have been pretty successful. This month, Hunter convinced the House Armed Services Committee – his Armed Services Committee – to pass a plan that would allow the hunting to continue indefinitely for disabled vets and other military types.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060522/news_1m22letter.html
could this be an effort to set up a fraud?
http://beachblogger.net/pics/index.php?title=trouble_brewing&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
While House members bicker, families feel 'caught in middle'
Hunter says he began to think about Santa Rosa Island while driving on the coast with a carload of Iraq veterans. One pointed to Santa Rosa and mentioned that elk and deer hunting out there was slated to end.
"It is a little, protected group of animals there. This is not any big deal in terms of stopping anybody from using that huge island," Hunter said on the House floor in mid-May, as he argued for his provision to keep the herds available for hunting. He said his provision mainly saves them from extermination. And, "it would be nice to have a small herd there where veterans, disabled, paralyzed and others, could enjoy that resource."
Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, who succeeded her deceased husband, Rep. Walter Capps, in 1998, represents a district including parts of Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. A former nurse and health advocate, she's made education, health and environment issues themes of her tenure.
It's highly unusual for a congressman to push a measure in another representative's district, as Hunter is doing to Capps with his defense bill provision. As it arose for the third time in as many years, Capps took issue in that same Congressional floor session.
"This bill kicks the public off the island, which the public bought for $30 million in 1986," Capps said.
"This ridiculous provision has no place in a defense bill. There have been no hearings, the Pentagon hasn't requested it, and the park service strongly opposes it," said Capps. She says veterans are able to hunt at many mainland bases, such as Hunter-Liggett.
- The elk and deer are not native species. The park service wants them removed by 2011 to restore the island's natural balance.
- It costs up to $20,000 per person for a hunting trip to the island. Corporations and contractors will donate the money.
- In the SOCOM case in Florida family members of Government employees were hired by the rec-center and paid high wages to do token jobs.
- Mr. Hunter has a history of paying family members excessive salaries out of campaign funds.
Lawmaker secures funds to upgrade ship Navy doesn't want
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=34288&dcn=e_ndw
Despite strong objections from the Navy, House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., added $25.7 million to the fiscal 2007 defense authorization bill to upgrade an experimental high-speed vessel based in San Diego and developed by one of his biggest political donors.
Hunter, whose wife christened the ship in February 2005, has boasted that Titan Corp.'s Sea Fighter is a speedy, innovative, 262-foot catamaran with the potential to pack more combat punch than most larger battleships.
The money in the fiscal 2007 bill would pay for high-tech modifications to the ship's command and control, survivability, armament and other systems to make the vessel, also known as the X-Craft, operationally deployable.
"The committee believes that deployment of Sea Fighter can demonstrate and validate many of the Navy's operational concepts for littoral warfare," according to language in the Navy research and development section of the committee report, under "Items of Special Interest."
But the Navy, which did not request any money for the catamaran, fears the hefty add-on would squander limited ship procurement dollars on a vessel the service doesn't want. Service estimates indicate that readying the catamaran for actual warfare might cost $100 million -- four times the amount authorized in the House bill.
The Sea Fighter is central to San Diego-based Titan's defense portfolio and a lucrative project for Hunter's Southern California district. The experimental vessel also helped sweeten L-3 Communications' successful $2.65 billion purchase of Titan last year.
Gene Ray, Titan's founder and former CEO, said the catamaran is an "incredible" and "outstanding" system. And House Armed Services Projection Forces Subcommittee Chairman Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., defended the system's performance.
Hunter and former Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham, a defense appropriator convicted of taking $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors in return for legislative earmarks, have been two of the program's biggest supporters. Titan was not implicated in Cunningham's federal criminal case.
From 1998 to 2003, Hunter received $47,200 in campaign donations from Titan Corp., more than any other lawmaker, according to the Center for Public Integrity. Cunningham, whose district adjoined Hunter's, came in third -- just behind another Southern Californian, House Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis -- with $43,050 in Titan donations.
In the current election cycle, L-3 Communications has given $19,350 to Hunter's campaign, second only to BAE Systems, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Both Hunter and Bartlett would like to produce more Sea Fighters, but Hunter said further development and testing is needed to determine the exact numbers needed. He also wants to arm it with a surface-launched cruise missile called the Affordable Weapon System, another Titan-developed project.
The fiscal 2007 defense authorization bill includes $27 million to complete the design, development and live-fire testing of the weapon system and begin production of an additional 40 missiles.
Like the Sea Fighter, the Navy requested no funds for these missiles, which have failed four flight tests. The next tests are scheduled for this month and July, after which Pentagon acquisition officials will determine whether to move forward with the program.
Report: Army mistakes delayed armor upgrades
March 26, 2006 Army vehicles in Iraq could have been given armor upgrades quicker if officials had better long-term plans and better contract management skills, researchers at the Government Accountability Office found last week.
Instead, their report found, those inefficiencies and mistakes by the Army delayed installation of many of the armor kits by more than a year. That delay placed troops “at greater risk as they conducted wartime operations in vehicles that were not equipped with the preferred level of protection.”
The GAO found that the Army decided in November 2003 troops would need at least 3,780 truck armor kits to upgrade lightly protected vehicles in Iraq.
Those kits weren’t delivered until 2005, and they weren’t all installed until 18 months after the need was identified.
The report criticizes the Army for failing to anticipate the need for the better-armored vehicles, noting that the service was authorized to develop and order kits as far back as 1996.
Hunter is the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
Rep. Hunter's committee to expand search for fishy Cunningham deals
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060415-9999-1n15probe.html
Hunter bites the hand that feeds him
House Armed Services Committee chairman Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), seeking to derail a government-owned Arab company's plans to manage port facilities in six American cities, said Thursday he would introduce legislation not only to kill that deal but also to prevent foreign companies from controlling facilities determined to be critical to U.S. national security.
Hunter's legislation could affect the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, where 13 of the 14 container terminal operations are foreign-owned. "It makes sense in this new age of terrorism that critical infrastructure be owned by Americans," Hunter said in an interview. He said his proposal could apply not only to ports but also to power plants and "other infrastructure that is critical to the nation."
Bill Targets Foreign Role at U.S. Sites
In a speech yesterday Bush called for an end of isolationism.
Smears and slander
Outrageous audio of Hunter justifying the war, smearing liberals
here is an interview with Mr. Duncan Hunter from These Days with Tom Fudge, KPBS:
Mr. Hunter is very good (or bad depending on your frame of view) at framing the issues, he sounds just like Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly.
- 5:50 - the cold war and the ‘success’ in Central America. What about Venezuela?
- 6:20 - Pershing missiles. Yeah that made us a lot of friends.
- 6:25 - smear: “Liberals like everything about the struggle for freedom except the struggle.”
- 7:00 - “Why did we fight this war?” “ Because of a picture I have in the front door of my desk of Kurdish mothers holding their children dead in their arms, killed in mid stride by poison gas.. The History Channel anthropologists show how the mother would have a .45 pistol bullet in the back of her head and the little baby that she was holding would also have a .45 pistol bullet in the back of his head. they executed mothers and children gangland style by the hundreds and thousands.” fear mongering and obscuration , was it gas or a bullet?
- 8:28 - the classic: Al, Hillary and Bill did it.
- 9:00 - Rumsfeld sold Saddam 8,500 liters of nerve gas and it’s still missing, could be any where.
- 11:10 - lie: “They did welcome us with open arms and they pulled down a statue.”
- 12:30 - flip flop: “US is the occupier” I though we were the liberators. “Nothing is guaranteed.” then why did we do this? are we safer or aren’t we?
- 13:30 - Does this sound fishy to you? “cost of defense is 4-5% of GDP, less than during Reagan or Kennedy.”
Outrageous video of Hunter justifying torture
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/cnn_lf_hunter_detainee_food_not_torture_050613-01.ram
Congressman asks President Bush to help save San Diego cross
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee asked President Bush to help save a 29-foot cross standing on San Diego city property from being removed by court order.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, joined Thursday by Mayor Jerry Sanders, asked the president to exercise his power of eminent domain and take over the half-acre cross site atop Mount Soledad.
Hunter, who has backed legislation to protect the cross, sent a letter to the White House requesting "urgent assistance" to keep it intact.
"The federal government has lots of memorials with crosses on it," he said. "According to the court decisions, you'd have to dismantle Arlington (National) Cemetery."
- There are very few crosses visible at Arlington National Cemetery, the grave markers are not cross shaped. Each marker has a small religious symbol on it. There are several crosses, up to ten feet high, as part of displays. On Mt. Soledad the cross is 29 feet tall and is the central symbol; untill recently the cross was the only religious symbol on Mt. Soledad.
read Hunters letter. Mr. Hunter again attacks liberals, blaming "liberal judges".
Supporters of the cross hope to transfer the legal responsibility of defending the cross to the US taxpayer.
Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial
- Honorary Brick Paver: $100
Individual Recognition Plaque, Honors a veteran on one of three plaque sizes distinctly designed for each veteran.
- Name and photo of veteran
- Rank or rating and branch of service
- War or campaign, such as WWII, Vietnam, Southwest Asia
- Medals and ribbons
- Key tribute to veteran - service statement up to 25 words that 'tells the story' of military service
- Family appreciation statement up to six words
- Military patches and one non-military symbol, such as a religious symbol, veterans' or other organization
$600 to $1,500
http://www.soledadmemorial.com/plaqueoptions.html
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/6/302006f.asp
Militarism
There's a new cold war
There are fears the military could be used to challenge the U.S. or India in an effort to hoist impoverished segments of the Country. Today, China holds nearly $200-billion in U.S. debt and Duncan Hunter believes those IOU's are China's Ace.
Hunter: China is becoming a military power. They are doing it largely with American dollars which I think is one of the tragedies of this era. And that we are sending hard cash to China that it is using to purhase a military capability that may one day be used against our own armed forces.
Hunter says that San Diego and the Pacific Theater will see an increase in military operations.
Hunter: Forward deploying Naval assets and projecting power will be required for the next five, ten, fifteen, years.
Hunter's first reaction is military force. His campaign is funded by defense contractors. Hunter makes the US weaker because we don't have a diplomatic response to any threat.
North Korea calls for negotiation on missile issue
As North Korea continues to delay the test launch of a technologically improved version of its Taepodong 2 missile, Pyongyang suggested the missile crisis should be solved through negotiations. In response to the test preparations, many hard-liners in Washington maintained the need for an improved missile defense system while at the same time calling on the government to strengthen diplomatic pressure against the North.
Several U.S. politicians, such as Rep. Duncan Hunter (Republican-California), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee of Congress, stressed that Pyongyang’s actions underscored the need for the U.S. military to improve its missile defense system. Senate majority leader Bill Frist (Republican-Tennessee) in an appearance on the CBS television network said that the test-firing would be justification for U.S. military action.
why wouldn't it stress the need for improving US diplomatic efforts?
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/134808.html
PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH PAC
COMMITTEE TO RE-ELECT CONGRESSMAN DUNCAN HUNTER
So who is:
James Albertine President Global Delta 6307 Mountain Branch Ct. Bethesda, Maryland 20817
Border Fence
stub, please fill in info.
main
Duncan Lee Hunter (born May 31, 1948), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1981 of California (map) in northern and eastern San Diego County. He is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
Bio
Hunter was born in Riverside, California. He briefly attended the University of Montana and the University of California, Santa Barbara before enlisting in the United States Army. He served in the Vietnam War in the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 75th Army Rangers. After returning, he enrolled at Western State University College of Law and earned a BSL and JD in 1976, thereafter working as a plaintiff's attorney.
In 1980 he was recruited to run for Congress and defeated the 18-year incumbent Democrat, Lionel Van Deerlin. He was one of many Republicans swept into office from historically Democratic districts as a result of Reagan's coattails—Van Deerlin had been the only representative the district had ever had since its creation in 1963. Representing a district dominated by military bases and personnel, he sought and was granted a seat on the Armed Services Committee. After the 1980 census, many of the more Democratic areas were cut out of Hunter's district, and he hasn't faced serious opposition since. He became chairman of the Armed Services Committee in 2002.
Hunter's son, Duncan Duane Hunter, a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, was deployed to Iraq in 2003.
In November 2004, Hunter and Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner blocked the bill that would have created a National Intelligence Director (NID). Creating a NID was a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. Hunter argued that the military is the biggest consumer of intelligence and any reforms enacted must not endanger the lives of troops on the battlefield. He worked with the Administration to ensure resources needed by the military would not be hindered.
Duncan Hunter plans to introduce legislation to the Senate on Thursday, November 3, 2005 calling for the construction of a reinforced fence along the entire United States–Mexican border. This will also include a border zone on the American side of 100 metres.
On November 18th, 2005, Hunter and fellow Republicans introduced a resolution, in response to Pennsylvania representative John Murtha's, which said:
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately.
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately.
The bill was condemned as a stunt by Democrats and defeated, 403-3 in the House of Representatives.
Military Service
A Vietnam veteran, he served in the 173rd Airborne and 75th Army Rangers. Hunter utilized the G.I. Bill to attend Western State University Law School in San Diego and, while completing his degree, he supplemented his income by working in farming and construction. After graduating, the new attorney opened a storefront legal office where he served many in the Hispanic community, often without compensation. In 1980, he was asked to mount a challenge for the Congressional seat held by an 18-year incumbent, Lionel Van Deerlin. Despite the district having a 2-to-1 Democrat registration, Hunter won the seat in an upset.
http://www.hunterforcongress.com/pages/bio.html
War debate mostly waged by civilians
External links
- Official Congressional website
- Official campaign website
- USA TODAY - Duncan Hunter associated with Randy "Duke" Cunningham/Brent Wilkes scandal, November 29, 2005.Template:CA-FedRep
