Chris Carney’s curious resolution

Amid the hundreds of bills and resolutions sponsored so far in the 110^th Congress, at least one may be a plea for more government business for a well-heeled Democrat contributor, research by the Majority Accountability Project (www.majorityap.com) has found.

U.S. Representative Chris Carney, D-PA, is the lead sponsor of H. Con. Res. 113, which “recognize(es) the important contributions and tremendous potential of military ground robotics and expressing the support of the Congress for continued funding and development of Unmanned Ground Vehicles.”

That the military recognizes the importance and need for warfare robotics is long established. The army even began a program where combat soldiers work with engineers to develop cutting-edge, robotic technology that more efficiently serves the needs of warfighters. In fact, the armed forces has been promoting the need for ”revolutionary”, unmanned combat technology long before Carney ever ran for Congress.

Such laudatory resolutions, which carry no weight of law, are common place in the House of Representatives. Many are reintroduced in subsequent Congresses.

But a search of official House records over the past decade shows Carney’s expression of support for robotic warfare technology is the first of its kind. Why, then, would a freshman Pennsylvania Democrat see the need for a Congressional resolution to affirm what the military already knows?

While Carney cites the experiences of a staff member who served in Iraq as the reason behind his resolution, another possible explanation lies in Carney’s financial disclosures filed with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC).

Since January 1, 2007, the PMA Group, a defense industry lobby firm with close ties to controversial U.S. Representative Jack Murtha, D-PA, has given Carney $24,000 in campaign contributions. An increase in federal funding for military robotics would be a financial boon for PMA, whose clients include a host of defense firms engaged in military robotics research, development and production.

Among PMA clients who could benefit from an increase in federal funding for robotics research and development are Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, the National Center for Defense Robotics, Concurrent Technologies, Battelle Memorial Institute and Textron, who collectively paid PMA nearly $1 million in 2006, according to the Congressional watchdog group OpenSecrets.org.

Carney is not the resolution’s only sponsor with ties to PMA. Texas Democrat Silvestre Reyes has received $16,000 from the firm and its associates since January 1, 2007, while Pennsylvania Democrats Mike Doyle and Jason Altmire received $11,500 and $9,000 respectively. Tim Holden received only $250, while they remaining sponsors did not receive any contributions.

Former U.S. Representative Bob Ney, D-OH, twice placed remarks in the Congressional record at the behest of one of his contributors, disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Managing Editor Michael Brady contributed to this report.