opal
05-24-2013, 04:01 PM
not sure if this goes in Gen Pol but if not.. feel free to scoot it around somewhere.
so.. my dad makes it a point to write to his congress critter regularly.. sometimes every day. The critter is Gus M. Bilirakis.
One particular letter was all about the ammunition that DHS has been buying.. this is what he got back
"Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns with the ammunition procurement policies of various federal agencies. I appreciate hearing from you.
I understand your concerns about these ammunition purposes. It is not commonly known the extent to which federal agencies have law enforcement authorities and powers. As an advocate for the effective and efficient use of taxpayer dollars, as well as for a government that works for the American people, I am continuing to closely scrutinize these ammunition purchases.
There have recently been reports of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) purchasing 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition and 2,700 Mine Resistant Armor Protected Vehicles (MRAPs). This is not true. DHS estimates that they have approximately 263,733,362 rounds in its current inventory. There have also been concerns raised over the fact that many of these rounds are hollow point rounds. Oftentimes law enforcement entities use hollow point ammunition because these rounds tend to shatter on impact. This reduces the chance that a bullet will ricochet in a training scenario, and significantly reduces the chances of injury. Given that the U.S. Marshals, the Secret Service, and Immigration, Customs, & Enforcement (ICE), as well as other agencies, fall under the purview of Homeland Security, the numerous agents for all of these agencies require such a large procurement of ammunition. And while Congress does appropriate funds to DHS, the department has great discretion to spend those funds to most effectively protect the United States. I have attached a report from DHS to Senator Coburn, in which they enumerate their ammunition purchases in detail.
DHS operates a total of 32 MRAPs, which were donated by the Department of Defense (DoD) in 2008. Of these 32 vehicles, 16 MRAPs are used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for border security operations. The remaining 16 MRAPs are used by the Homeland Security Investigations unit of DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement for high-risk counter-criminal operations, such as the execution of search or arrest warrants against known drug cartels.
In January of 2012, Navistar International Truck and Engine Corporation was awarded a $21 million contract by the Army Contracting Command to upgrade 2,717 International MaxxPro MRAPs with a new vehicle chassis. In similar manner, the Marine Corps Systems Command purchased 2,225 Navistar MRAPs pursuant to a 2008 request from the U.S. Army, and additional contracts were awarded in 2010 and 2011.
The Pentagon's $47.7 billion MRAP procurement program ended in October of 2012. Of the approximately 20,000 MRAPs in service, 30% (6,000) will stay in brigade combat teams as troop transports and route clearance vehicles, 10% (2,000) will be used for training, and 60% (12,000) will either go into storage or be sold to allied nations. DHS has no plans to acquire additional MRAPs, and no authorization or funding requests for additional vehicles have been submitted to or approved by Congress.
In the case of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), their purchase of 46,000 rounds of ammunition was for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) division of the NOAA. The NMFS is tasked with protecting the livelihoods of commercial fishers, the hobbies of recreational fishers, as well as the health and wellbeing of fish stocks and marine wildlife. The ammunition will be used by the NOAA for their agents' annual target qualifications and training.
The Social Security Administration also made a request for 174,000 rounds of ammunition. This was for the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) – specifically, the Office of Investigations (OI) under the purview of the OIG. The OI conducts investigations regarding waste and fraud in the Social Security Administration, or the administration of its programs. Oftentimes these investigations are conducted jointly with local, state, or federal law enforcement entities, and as such, the OI officers are trained to use firearms. The full statement released by the OIG regarding their ammunition procurement can be found here on the OIG's (http://oig.ssa.gov/newsroom/blog/2012/08/social-securitys-oig-responds-concerns-over-ammunition-procurement (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Foig.ssa.gov%2Fnewsroom%2Fblog%2 F2012%2F08%2Fsocial-securitys-oig-responds-concerns-over-ammunition-procurement&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGR4IimA9r_AelGMc9Ec8ehLDuCog)) website. I hope this information provide useful to your inquiry. I will also share your comments with my House colleagues. I am certain they will benefit from your views.
As a resident of Florida's Twelfth District, your comments and opinions are an important source of information to help me carry out my duties as your federal representative. In that regard, please do not hesitate to contact me in the future on any issue important to you. Also, if you would like to be informed more frequently about my work in Congress and in Florida's Twelfth Congressional District, please visit my website at http://www.bilirakis.house.gov (https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fiqconnect.lmhostediq.com%2Fiqe xtranet%2FiqClickTrk.aspx%3F%26cid%3DFL12GB%26crop %3D13053.3089570.3104891.306763%26redirect%3Dhttp% 3A%2F%2Fwww.bilirakis.house.gov&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHrC7xETqOgkEFIT_26uU9eo0uPCg) to sign up for regular email or to send me a message.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. "
so.. my dad makes it a point to write to his congress critter regularly.. sometimes every day. The critter is Gus M. Bilirakis.
One particular letter was all about the ammunition that DHS has been buying.. this is what he got back
"Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns with the ammunition procurement policies of various federal agencies. I appreciate hearing from you.
I understand your concerns about these ammunition purposes. It is not commonly known the extent to which federal agencies have law enforcement authorities and powers. As an advocate for the effective and efficient use of taxpayer dollars, as well as for a government that works for the American people, I am continuing to closely scrutinize these ammunition purchases.
There have recently been reports of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) purchasing 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition and 2,700 Mine Resistant Armor Protected Vehicles (MRAPs). This is not true. DHS estimates that they have approximately 263,733,362 rounds in its current inventory. There have also been concerns raised over the fact that many of these rounds are hollow point rounds. Oftentimes law enforcement entities use hollow point ammunition because these rounds tend to shatter on impact. This reduces the chance that a bullet will ricochet in a training scenario, and significantly reduces the chances of injury. Given that the U.S. Marshals, the Secret Service, and Immigration, Customs, & Enforcement (ICE), as well as other agencies, fall under the purview of Homeland Security, the numerous agents for all of these agencies require such a large procurement of ammunition. And while Congress does appropriate funds to DHS, the department has great discretion to spend those funds to most effectively protect the United States. I have attached a report from DHS to Senator Coburn, in which they enumerate their ammunition purchases in detail.
DHS operates a total of 32 MRAPs, which were donated by the Department of Defense (DoD) in 2008. Of these 32 vehicles, 16 MRAPs are used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for border security operations. The remaining 16 MRAPs are used by the Homeland Security Investigations unit of DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement for high-risk counter-criminal operations, such as the execution of search or arrest warrants against known drug cartels.
In January of 2012, Navistar International Truck and Engine Corporation was awarded a $21 million contract by the Army Contracting Command to upgrade 2,717 International MaxxPro MRAPs with a new vehicle chassis. In similar manner, the Marine Corps Systems Command purchased 2,225 Navistar MRAPs pursuant to a 2008 request from the U.S. Army, and additional contracts were awarded in 2010 and 2011.
The Pentagon's $47.7 billion MRAP procurement program ended in October of 2012. Of the approximately 20,000 MRAPs in service, 30% (6,000) will stay in brigade combat teams as troop transports and route clearance vehicles, 10% (2,000) will be used for training, and 60% (12,000) will either go into storage or be sold to allied nations. DHS has no plans to acquire additional MRAPs, and no authorization or funding requests for additional vehicles have been submitted to or approved by Congress.
In the case of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), their purchase of 46,000 rounds of ammunition was for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) division of the NOAA. The NMFS is tasked with protecting the livelihoods of commercial fishers, the hobbies of recreational fishers, as well as the health and wellbeing of fish stocks and marine wildlife. The ammunition will be used by the NOAA for their agents' annual target qualifications and training.
The Social Security Administration also made a request for 174,000 rounds of ammunition. This was for the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) – specifically, the Office of Investigations (OI) under the purview of the OIG. The OI conducts investigations regarding waste and fraud in the Social Security Administration, or the administration of its programs. Oftentimes these investigations are conducted jointly with local, state, or federal law enforcement entities, and as such, the OI officers are trained to use firearms. The full statement released by the OIG regarding their ammunition procurement can be found here on the OIG's (http://oig.ssa.gov/newsroom/blog/2012/08/social-securitys-oig-responds-concerns-over-ammunition-procurement (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Foig.ssa.gov%2Fnewsroom%2Fblog%2 F2012%2F08%2Fsocial-securitys-oig-responds-concerns-over-ammunition-procurement&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGR4IimA9r_AelGMc9Ec8ehLDuCog)) website. I hope this information provide useful to your inquiry. I will also share your comments with my House colleagues. I am certain they will benefit from your views.
As a resident of Florida's Twelfth District, your comments and opinions are an important source of information to help me carry out my duties as your federal representative. In that regard, please do not hesitate to contact me in the future on any issue important to you. Also, if you would like to be informed more frequently about my work in Congress and in Florida's Twelfth Congressional District, please visit my website at http://www.bilirakis.house.gov (https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fiqconnect.lmhostediq.com%2Fiqe xtranet%2FiqClickTrk.aspx%3F%26cid%3DFL12GB%26crop %3D13053.3089570.3104891.306763%26redirect%3Dhttp% 3A%2F%2Fwww.bilirakis.house.gov&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHrC7xETqOgkEFIT_26uU9eo0uPCg) to sign up for regular email or to send me a message.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. "