[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 119 (Thursday, September 21, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10006-S10007]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    DETAINEE INTERROGATION AGREEMENT

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, in a few moments we will be closing. I will 
have a brief closing statement about what the plans will be over the 
next several days.
  While we have a moment, I will refer to what happened about an hour 
or an hour and a half ago on a very important piece of legislation we 
have been working on for about 2 months, almost 3 months now. It is 
legislation which results from what we all know now as the Hamdan 
decision that the Supreme Court presented to us specifically several 
months ago. As a result of that decision, it became incumbent to pass 
legislation in this Senate to clarify the results of that decision but, 
most importantly, to address the issues surrounding the military 
tribunals, the terrorist tribunals, the military commissions. Those 
are, in essence, the court system, the commissions, the way we deal 
with enemy combatants or terrorists.
  The issue before the Senate is legislation that we must pass this 
coming week just as soon as possible for a number of reasons, but 
primarily we have detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who cannot be 
tried. Among these terrorists are people such as the lead Shaikh 
Mohammed, the mastermind, or alleged mastermind, behind the events of 
September 11.
  In addition, what we all now understand is the Hamdan decision made 
it again incumbent upon the Senate to act in order to be able to 
continue a very important program of interrogation so we can get 
information so our Government will be equipped with the tools we need 
to obtain information from terrorists that can be lifesaving, that can 
prevent another attack, a terrorist attack.
  What has been challenging over the last several months is coming to 
an agreement which we reached today among colleagues who had devoted a 
lot of time in this Senate on this issue, an issue which is tough from 
a legal standpoint, but an agreement within this Senate, working hand 
in hand with the administration. I was pleased to join my colleagues, 
along with the National Security Adviser, Steve Hadley, along with a 
Member from the House of Representatives, as well as Mitch McConnell, 
our whip, as well as John Warner, chairman of the Committee on Armed 
Services, Senator John McCain, and Senator Graham, to announce an 
agreement that meets the key test of our conference.
  The first priority, as I have spoken again and again over the last 
several days, was the importance of meeting these goals. And they were 
met.
  No. 1, protect America by ensuring our highly valuable CIA program 
will be preserved, a program of interrogation which has delivered 
information that has allowed the United States to stop terrorist 
activity. That will be preserved.
  The second goal, a criterion that I have set out and the President 
has set out as well, is whatever we develop in this Senate must 
guarantee that classified sources and methods, classified information--
all sources and methods will not be disclosed to the terrorist 
detainees. It seems obvious to the American people, obvious to me, that 
we do not want to be giving classified information to a terrorist or 
his attorney, who will turn around and share that with the larger 
terrorist world that is out there.
  A third criteria or a third result of the fact that this legislation 
has been addressed in the way it has is an agreement that has the 
impact of ensuring that the military will be able to begin to try the 
terrorists, the enemy combatants, the detainees in our custody today.
  So it protects a program which we know is important, No. 1. No. 2, it 
prevents classified information from being given to terrorists. No. 3, 
it ensures that the military can begin to try these terrorists once 
this legislation is signed by the President.
  I congratulate my colleagues. We have a long way to go, though, 
because

[[Page S10007]]

that is the first major step of a product of about 2 months of work. 
With that work and the time they have spent, the dedication and focus, 
it means that once that information can be shared with Democrats and 
Republicans throughout the Senate and they take a look at it, the fact 
that it has been so carefully vetted, we should be able to address it 
in the course of next week.
  I had a brief conversation with the Democratic leader, who has begun 
to look at that legislation. He, too, is confident we can address this 
issue next week. The House of Representatives has to address it, as 
well, go to conference--if we don't pass the same bill--and then get it 
to the President as soon as we possibly can. So it is very good news. 
That agreement was reached today.
  There are a number of other items that have to be addressed, but 
there were three major items that were the real gist, the substance of 
that agreement.

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