John Ensign: “Very simply, this amendment seeks to clarify what the policy of the United States has been since 1975, that our military…”

“Very simply, this amendment seeks to clarify what the policy of the United States has been since 1975, that our military would be able to use riot control agents--in this case tear gas--for defensive purposes. That has been the policy of the United States. But because of some interpretations, our military is not able to use tear gas. They do not take it with them, they do not train with it, and in many cases tear gas--just as police forces use it all over the world--would save civilian lives as well as lives of the members of our military. This is absolutely a critical amendment to save lives of Americans and for those civilians who, when our military kills them--and unfortunately these things happen--it makes us look bad as a country. This is a critical amendment that we need to adopt.”