[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 87 (Thursday, June 11, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6484-S6486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            DETAINEE PHOTOS

  Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, it appears the House Democrats, 
according to a ``Roll Call'' article this morning about the 
supplemental bill--I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the 
Record this morning's ``Roll Call'' article titled ``Intraparty Fights 
Pervade Agenda'' concerning the war supplemental bill.

[[Page S6485]]

  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                       [Roll Call, June 11, 2009]

                    Intraparty Fights Pervade Agenda

        (By Steven T. Dennis and Emily Pierce, Roll Call Staff)

       Democratic leaders appeared to clear the way Wednesday for 
     passage of a $100 billion war supplemental, even as they 
     worked furiously to repair internal rifts over health care 
     and climate change legislation.
       The war bill, which has swollen with items including a 
     cash-for-clunkers incentive, will eliminate Senate language 
     explicitly allowing President Barack Obama to keep photos of 
     detainee abuse during the Bush administration confidential.
       That language was included by the Senate and is backed by 
     Obama and Republicans, but it has been a deal-breaker for 
     House liberals like Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank 
     (Mass.).
       Frank and other Democrats who opposed the war bill 
     originally, have committed to voting for it in order to help 
     carry a $108 billion package of loans to the International 
     Monetary Fund, an Obama priority.
       Assuming no Republican support, Democratic leaders need 18 
     of 51 anti-war Democrats to back the bill, a number that they 
     appear likely to reach despite the continued opposition from 
     leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
       House Republican leaders had derided the IMF money as a 
     ``global bailout'' and vowed to whip hard to defeat the 
     supplemental with it included.
       And even moderate House Republicans from auto industry 
     states appeared unlikely to be won over by the inclusion of a 
     cash-for-clunkers provision aimed at jump-starting the auto 
     industry.
       ``That's going to have no bearing on people's votes on the 
     bill,'' Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said. ``They're not going 
     to get hardly any Republican votes.''
       The outcome of any Senate vote on the supplemental 
     conference report remains uncertain, given that Sens. Joe 
     Lieberman (ID-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) threatened 
     to not only filibuster the bill, but also block other Senate 
     business if the supplemental did not include their language 
     barring disclosure of the detainee abuse photos.
       One senior Senate Democratic aide said Lieberman and 
     Graham's threat to hold up the supplemental indefinitely was 
     unlikely to last and predicted that Defense Secretary Robert 
     Gates would likely pressure the two defense hawks to 
     relent so that funding for the wars wouldn't run out.
       The trickier problem is what delay tactics Graham and 
     Lieberman might use to stymie Senate action on other bills. 
     The senior Senate Democratic aide acknowledged that Senate 
     Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi 
     (D-Calif.) might have to come up with a plan for passing the 
     language on some other bill that would be able to pass the 
     House, but this aide noted that Obama has the strongest hand 
     in getting Graham and Lieberman to stand down.
       Senate Democratic aides said the language to close the 
     prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was designed to satisfy the 
     Obama administration's need to transport terrorists for 
     trial, as well as to ease, for the most part, Democrats' fear 
     of political repercussions from having detainees permanently 
     housed in the United States.
       The language would allow terrorists to be in the U.S. for 
     trial only, which the senior Senate Democratic aide said 
     would ``give Obama some flexibility while also mollifying 
     those that have NIMBY problems.''
       But the supplemental has been largely a sideshow to the big 
     push behind the scenes on health care, especially from the 
     White House.
       One House Democratic aide to a liberal lawmaker said left-
     leaning Members have been much more focused on health care 
     reform and are generally happy with the direction 
     negotiations on the issue are going.
       ``The debate is no longer whether there will be a public 
     plan; it's over what the public plan will look like,'' the 
     aide said.
       Democratic House chairmen have dismissed a call from 
     conservative Blue Dogs for a ``trigger'' option that would 
     delay a government-sponsored health care plan, but there are 
     still numerous fights going on behind the scenes--including 
     on the makeup of the plan and how to pay for it.
       Some Members fear that a Medicare-style plan that forces 
     doctors to participate will provoke a revolt; others worry 
     that a public plan may ultimately swallow up the entire 
     marketplace.
       But parochial concerns are also proving paramount, with 
     individual lawmakers demanding answers on how it will affect 
     their own districts. Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.), a 
     leading Blue Dog, said his district is plagued by a lack of 
     doctors in part because of low reimbursement rates under 
     government health programs.
       ``If that's not addressed, I'm not voting for the bill,'' 
     he said. ``We have huge amounts of details to put on the 
     bones.''
       But health care isn't the only issue sparking Democratic 
     intraparty battles.
       The cap-and-trade bill limiting carbon emissions, largely 
     negotiated behind closed doors in the House, has rural 
     Democrats balking.
       House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) said 
     Wednesday that Democrats have reached an impasse on the 
     climate change bill. He cast doubts that his committee would 
     pass the bill by next week.
       ``I think it's very doubtful that we can get anything done 
     by then,'' Peterson said.
       Pelosi set a June 19 deadline for committee action on the 
     bill, although she left open the possibility of an extension.
       Peterson previously estimated that 45 Democrats would side 
     with him in opposing the climate change measure if an 
     agreement wasn't reached. On Wednesday, he said that number 
     has likely grown.
       ``The more people look at this, the more problems they've 
     got. My list has grown since I've been looking at it,'' 
     Peterson said.
       For his part, Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-
     Calif.) said that there are ``very constructive'' discussions 
     taking place and that he still wants the bill on the floor 
     before the July Fourth recess.
       House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he expected 
     to bring the war bill to the floor next week. The conference 
     committee was scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. today.

  Mr. McCAIN. I quote from it:

       The war bill, which has swollen with items including a 
     cash-for-clunkers incentive, will eliminate Senate language 
     explicitly allowing President Barack Obama to keep photos of 
     detainee abuse during the Bush administration confidential.

  The Graham-Lieberman amendment that would classify these photos was 
accepted by voice vote. In other words, any Senator who wanted to 
object or vote against it could have called for a vote. Instead, it was 
unanimously adopted.
  According to the ``Roll Call'' article I quoted, that provision will 
be removed from the emergency supplemental. According to that article:

       One senior Democratic aide said Lieberman's and Graham's 
     threat to hold up the supplemental indefinitely [unless their 
     provision was included] was unlikely to last and predicted 
     that Defense Secretary Robert Gates would likely pressure the 
     two defense hawks to relent so that funding for the wars 
     wouldn't run out.

  I think this Democratic aide highly underestimates Senator Lieberman, 
Senator Graham, and the rest of us.
  I had a conversation with General Petraeus the day before yesterday. 
I believe those conversations are confidential, and I asked his 
agreement to quote from him: If these photos are released, it would 
harm the ability of the United States military to pursue our national 
security interests and could put American lives in danger. That is a 
serious statement from the most respected military leader this Nation 
has.
  I want to point out something very important. Today the President of 
the United States could issue an Executive order classifying those 
photos and not allowing them to be released. He could do it today. It 
is time for the President of the United States to stand up to the 
leftwing of his party for the good of the national security of this 
Nation.
  I join others, that if that supplemental comes over without the 
provision which was adopted unanimously by the Senate to make sure 
those photos are not released because of the harm it would do to 
America's effort in combating radical Islamic extremism throughout the 
world and put the lives of the men and women who are serving in our 
military in greater danger--I intend to join my friends Senator 
Lieberman and Senator Graham in doing everything we can to oppose such 
legislation.
  This war supplemental is intended to help us win this battle, the war 
on terrorism, dare I say. It is supposed to help the men and women who 
are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan as they pursue an implacable and 
evil enemy and try to instill democracy and freedom in these 
countries. And if these photos are made public, it will harm their 
effort and put their lives in danger.

  I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing a bill that would 
eliminate the provision that prevents these photos from being 
published, and I call on the President today to relieve this pressure 
and declare, by Executive order, that these photos are classified and 
not to be released to the world's public.
  Madam President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

[[Page S6486]]



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