Background Information to Document Facts in the Ad
Announcer: Mitch McConnell had a top staffer who left to become a lobbyist.
“Two Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firms with heavy-hitting corporate clients are combining operations… Hunter Bates is a former chief legal counsel and chief of staff to Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. He will become a principal in C2 Group.” [Source: “Lobbying Firm C2 Group acquires Bates Capitol Group,” Business First of Louisville (Kentucky), August 2, 2007.]
And as a lobbyist, he raised $120,000 dollars for McConnell’s campaigns.
“Overall, Bates… reports that he has charged about $2.4 million in fees to clients helped by McConnell -- more than half of the fees he reports for his first three years as a Washington lobbyist. Those clients have given McConnell about $120,000 in campaign contributions.”
[Source: John Cheves, “A Lucrative Connection; Lobbyist’s close ties to senator pay off for them both – and clients,” Lexington Herald-Leader, October 22, 2006, p. A1, available online for fee.]
And McConnell got him an 8.3 million dollar contract for his client to buy….
“Bates’ work for Voice for Humanity Inc., a Lexington company, won attention last year in a Herald-Leader story. The company sells small audio devices -- similar to iPods -- with recorded messages.
“Bates has billed Voice about $200,000 to get federal funding.
“Since 2003, McConnell has earmarked $8.3 million for Voice from the State Department to send its devices to Afghanistan and Nigeria, with messages intended to promote democracy or AIDS prevention.”
[Source: John Cheves, “A Lucrative Connection; Lobbyist’s close ties to senator pay off for them both – and clients,” Lexington Herald-Leader, October 22, 2006, p. A1, available online for fee.]
“The pseudo-iPods were funded by a group of U.S. government funders that included the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). An $8.3 million contract was awarded to Kentucky-based Voice for Humanity, a small group run by two Lexington businessmen, to use its audio players to ‘promote democracy’ in advance of the 2004 Afghan presidential election as well as to similar projects in Nigeria.
“How VFH got the contract is a matter raising some skeptical eyebrows in the aid community. When the two founders needed to sell their idea to the federal government, they turned to a lobbying group run by Hunter Bates, the former chief of staff to Senator Mitch McConnell. McConnell, it turns out, chairs the senate subcommittee that controls the money allocated to USAID.”
[Source: Nariwa Fariba, “Pink ‘ipods’ for Democracy!,” CorpWatch, March 15, 2006.]
Music players made in China to give to Afghanis
“They were custom digital audio players which function like the trendy iPod although they look more like generic radios or MP3 players. They are made in China…
“The aid workers distributed 65,800 recorders, which cost $50 each, to remote villages and some of the most dangerous and volatile areas in [Afghanistan]. The staff of Voice for Humanity, a non-profit humanitarian aid agency that claims to be dedicated to developing literacy in the world, says it has trained tribal chiefs and other community leaders to listen to the recorders and then pass them on to individuals and families.”
[Source: Nariwa Fariba, “Pink ‘ipods’ for Democracy!,” CorpWatch, March 15, 2006.]
Music Players for Afghanis? The same Mitch McConnell voted against body armor for our troops.
October 2003 vote on body armor:
On October 2, 2003, Sen. McConnell voted to table an amendment by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), that would have added $322 million for body armor and battlefield clean up for U.S. troops. The amendment was to be attached to the $87 billion emergency supplemental bill.
[Source: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes, 108th Congress, 1st Sesson, vote number 376, October 2, 2003.]
“Many American soldiers in Iraq have not been equipped with the latest body armor that can protect against high-caliber bullets. During the Senate debate on an $87 billion emergency supplemental bill, Dodd offered an amendment to shift $322 million in reconstruction funds to pay for modern safety equipment and battlefield clearance.
The amendment failed...”
[Source: Peter Urban, “Lieberman eyes war shakeup,” Connecticut Post, October 26, 2003, available online for fee.]
“Troop safety: Voting 49 for and 37 against, the Senate on Oct. 2 tabled (killed) an amendment to transfer $322 million in S 1689 (above) from nation-building to the Army for provision of additional survival gear for U.S. troops such as high-tech body armor, bullet-proof helmets and special water packs. […]
“Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said he has heard of soldiers ‘paying hundreds of dollars out of their own pockets to buy the equipment’ because ‘the administration did not procure enough personnel equipment for these men and women.’ A yes vote opposed the funds transfer.”
[Source: “Roll Call,” Aberdeen American News, October 5, 2003, available online for fee.]
“The Senate late Thursday also voted 49-37 to table an amendment by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., to add funding for soldiers’ body armor, communications and other equipment offset by cuts the administration requested in line items such as money to build prisons and purchase computers.”
[Source: “GOP Holds Line on Iraq Votes, But Key Test Still To Come,” National Journal’s CongressDaily, October 3, 2003, available to subscribers.]
April 2003 vote on body armor:
On April 2, 2003, Sen. McConnell voted to table an amendment by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) that would have added $1 billion to the 2003 supplemental bill for the National Guard and Reserves.
[Source: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes, 108th Congress, 1st Session, vote number 116, April 2, 2003.]
In her March 26, 2003 press release about her amendment, [Senator Landieu] explained that her bill was meant to “fill any equipment needs of Reservists and Guardsmen currently training for service in the second wave of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While all troops in the field today are properly equipped, reports indicate that subsequent call ups may be hindered by a lack of equipment. The Marine Corps Reserve reports that before they could deploy a second wave of troops a shortage of helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, and tactical vests must be fulfilled. Likewise, the Army Reserve reports a shortage of rifles - both the M4 and M16 – would have to be replenished before deploying a second wave of troops. Landrieu's amendment would increase funding for the Reserves and Guard by $1 billion...”
[Source: press release from Senator Landrieu’s office, March 26, 2003.]
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