Reality Check: NRCC Ad Against 8th District Congressman Rick Nolan
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Minnesota 8th District Congressman Rick Nolan is the target of a barrage of Republican advertising with a tough, emotional edge.
The ads from the National Republican Congressional Committee make the claim that the Democratic Congressman is soft on terrorists.
It's hard to tell apart the video of the ad against Rick Nolan and the opening credits for TV's terrorism show "Homeland".
In the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee ad, a narrator intones:
"What we don't know is why Congressman Rick Nolan voted to release terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, and then voted against funding for our troops fighting the war on terror."
But the ad from NRCC contains significant distortions of Nolan's record.
Here's why:
After President Obama traded five Guantanamo Bay prisoners for Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, Nolan voted against an amendment forbidding the use of funds for any future terrorist transfers.
That's not a vote to release terrorists.
Nolan voted in favor of an amendment to stop funding for a resolution authorizing the use of military force in Syria.
That's not a vote against funding troops.
A spokesman for the NRCC, Tyler Q. Houlton, issued a statement with the ad:
"With the growing threat of terrorism around the globe and here at home, Rick Nolan's votes to release terrorists from Guantanamo Bay and defund our counterterrorism operations are dangerous and reckless. Rick Nolan has spent his career in Congress opposing our military and our veterans," Houlton said in the statement.
In fact, in 2014 Nolan voted "yes" for the Department of Defense bill, which increased military funding by $4 billion.
This ad against Rick Nolan is misleading.
That's Reality Check.
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Sources used in this Reality Check:
NRCC Anti-Nolan Ad
https://www.nrcc.org/2014/09/23/54693/
Full Text of Anti-Nolan Ad
"We all know the growing threat we face today. JOURNALISTS: Are they coming for us? They are actively working to come for us. ISIS is no longer some fringe terrorist group These fighters could be a significant threat to our homeland. ANNCR: What we don't know is why Congressman Rick Nolan voted to release terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, and then voted against funding for our troops fighting the war on terror. Rick Nolan voted, now it's our turn. The National Republican Congressional Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising."
Final Vote Defense Bill
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/113-2014/h338
Amendment To Ban Funding for Guantanamo Prisoner Transfers
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/113-2014/h323
Amendment To Ban Funding Authorization of Military Force
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/113-2014/h330
2014 Defense Appropriations Bill
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr4870
New York Times:
Bowe Bergdahl Released in Prisoner Exchange
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/us/bowe-bergdahl-american-soldier-is-freed-by-taliban.html?_r=0
Republican "Terrorism Strategy"
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/can-republicans-make-terrorism-an-effective-campaign-issue/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/09/29/why-the-islamic-state-is-the-gops-favorite-new-issue/
Official Homeland Website
http://www.sho.com/sho/homeland/home