In my Saturday Slog post about Andrew Hughes, challenger to Jim McDermott’s Congressional throne, we included the following controversial bit:
Strolling through Burien, our chit-chat turned to more serious matters, such as the recent National Defense Authorization Act, which allows for the indefinite detention without trial of “suspected terrorists” —both citizens and foreigners alike. Hughes said he would have voted against the act, just as McDermott did. However, Hughes brought up a point that after 23 years in Congress, McDermott should be able to do more than cast “just a protest vote.”
Kinsey Kiriakos, spokesman for Rep. McDermott, shot me a stern email stating that McDermott actually did a lot more than cast a protest vote:
Hughes apparently hasn’t been keeping up with the press releases posted on my boss’ website or the Congressman’s Facebook posts. McDermott didn’t just vote no, he was successful in getting a veterans’ health amendment adopted in the NDAA bill that was passed by the House.
Ooh, burn!
As it turns out, McDermott did shepherd an amendment into the NDAA for FY13. The amendment, which was adopted on Friday, was added “to help ensure veterans receive the information and care they need if they are exposed to environmental hazards during their service.”
He may not be swimming across lakes, but McDermott is still a fighter (particularly on his Facebook wall).