INDEPENDENCE, IA — The three-term liberal Democrat incumbent Bruce Braley today released a new TV ad which omits his support of reckless foreign policies that undermine U.S. national security, including Braley’s willingness to “cut off funds” for troops in the middle of war and to grant foreign terrorists access to U.S. courts.
According to the Braley campaign, his new TV ad “focuses on Braley’s work in Congress on behalf of Iowa’s returning veterans” and asserts that “Bruce Braley passed tax credits for businesses that hire our returning heroes.” But the bill at issue was sponsored by Congressman Wally Herger from California, not Braley. (The bill passed 422-0 in the House.)
Braley’s ad omits his own support for reckless policies that undermine our national security. For example, Braley supported cutting off funds for troops on the ground in Iraq in the middle of war, a position widely condemned by Democrats and Republicans alike. Braley also supports giving foreign terrorists access to U.S. courts, cutting the U.S. nuclear arsenal to pay for one step towards health care reform even more radical than Obamacare, and voting against a House amendment that would have protected U.S. troops in hostile fire areas.
“Congressman Braley and these Washington politicians are doing grave harm to our country through their reckless policies,” said Cody Brown, advisor to U.S. congressional candidate Ben Lange. “What is unique about Braley, however, is that his recklessness is not confined to domestic spending, it also extends to our own national security.”
A fact sheet on Braley’s reckless foreign policies is below.
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Fact Sheet: Braley has Adopted Reckless Policies that Undermine U.S. National Security
1. Braley said he would vote to “cut off funds” for troops on the ground in Iraq in the middle of war.
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In 2006, Braley told Iowa Public Television that he would vote to “cut off the funds” for troops on the ground in Iraq in order to “bring them home.” (Radio Iowa, “Democrat Congressional candidate says cut funding to get troops out of Iraq,” May 19, 2006.)
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Braley’s statement was condemned by Republicans and Democrats alike.
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Democrat Bill Gluba said at the time that “No American, no Democrat wants to see us not to fund our troops in Iraq.” (Id.)
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Democrat Rick Dickinson even ran an ad stating, “No matter how you feel about the Iraq war, everyone agrees we must do everything to protect our troops. Everyone it seems, but Bruce Braley.” (The Weekly Standard, “Iraq and Iowa’s 1st Congressional District,” Oct 2, 2006.)
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Featured in the ad was a former Marine who said “[a]nyone who’s been in uniform knows that cutting funds to our men and women in Iraq is irresponsible. There is no doubt this will put them in greater danger.”
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Also featured in the ad was the mother of an Iraq war veteran who said “I oppose Bruce Braley’s plan to cut troop funding and I hope you will, too, because after all they have been through, we can’t abandon them now.”
2. Braley supports giving foreign terrorists access to U.S. courts.
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Asked by a host on MSNBC whether Braley endorsed bringing GITMO detainees to Thomson Correctional Facility in Illinois, Braley said “we are capable of providing justice even to people who have engaged in terrorist acts against us, prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law and incarcerating them the way we do right now all over this country in federal facilities.” (MSNBC, Morning Meeting, Nov 18, 2009.)
3. Braley proposed cutting the U.S. nuclear arsenal to pay for one step towards a health care reform plan even more radical than Obamacare.
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Bruce Braley proposed a government created health care plan that would make insurance available to all children and charge families based on a sliding scale. (WCF Courier, “Braley trumpets his plan to provide insurance for all Iowa children,” Mar 16, 2006.)
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Braley said he would pay for this plan by eliminate tax cuts for the wealthy and by cutting defense spending on “maintaining a nuclear arsenal that is no longer needed.” (Id.)
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Braley said this plan was simply part of his overall plan to enact a total government-takeover of health care (i.e., universal health care.) (Jon Ericson, “Congressional candidates debate in live radio forum,” Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Apr 22, 2006.)
4. Braley voted against a House amendment that would have protected U.S. troops in hostile fire areas.
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In 2011, Braley voted against House Amendment 318 “to require that the rules of engagement allow any military service personnel assigned to duty in a designated hostile fire area to have rules of engagement that fully protects their right to proactively defend themselves from hostile actions.” (H. Amdt. 318, May 26, 2011.)