[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 18385]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               DETAINEES

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I think my friend, the distinguished 
majority whip, is talking about things that really do not exist. We 
have now in the Senate a bipartisan agreement on how to approach the 
Hamdan decision, the detainee problem. We had all Democrats and four 
Republicans--far more than a majority in the committee--who voted 
yesterday to bring the matter to the floor that would solve this 
problem.
  It is not a problem at this point that has been solved by the 
European courts. It has been solved by the U.S. Senate. We certainly 
know that the document that has come from the Armed Services Committee 
is imperfect, and we can always try to work to improve that. I think we 
should move forward on this issue. I think there is certainly nothing 
in the mind of the American people or the American public that what the 
President has suggested is final.
  Certainly, he is not infallible, as indicated by Colin Powell--four-
star general, general in the Army, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff, Secretary of State for a number of years. He says the 
President's approach is wrong. He is not talking about the European 
courts determining what we should do. He is saying that the approach of 
Senator McCain and others is the proper way to go.
  I would also say--without a long discussion--we have the same 
situation at this stage in the Senate dealing with domestic spying. We 
have a bipartisan solution to this issue. Members of the Judiciary 
Committee, on a bipartisan basis, voted to bring a bill to the Senate. 
Again, I am sure that bill is not perfect, but it certainly is a 
bipartisan solution to a problem that exists, one that is in compliance 
with the Constitution of the United States.
  Mr. President, the Iraq war has been a diversion on the war on 
terror, and that seems pretty clear.

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