[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 11925]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    CONSUMER-FIRST ENERGY ACT OF 2008--MOTION TO PROCEED--Continued

  Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


       Unanimous-Consent Request--Authority for Committee to Meet

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during this session of 
the Senate.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, on behalf of the Republican leader, I 
object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I understand the objection of my good friend 
from Mississippi. He was not objecting on his own but for someone else.
  The hearing we were going to conduct was a hearing entitled 
``Coercive Interrogation Techniques: Do They Work, Are They Reliable, 
and What Did the FBI Know About Them?''
  This morning, Senator Feinstein, as chair of the subcommittee, began 
chairing a very important hearing on interrogation tactics. The hearing 
featured a report by the Department of Justice inspector general on 
tactics at Guantanamo that amounted to torture. The hearing was 
interrupted by three floor votes, and the chair recessed the hearing 
until 2 p.m.
  As you know, we have our weekly caucuses starting at 12:30. But now 
the minority is objecting to the committee meeting by invoking the 2-
hour rule. What this means is that 2 hours after we come into session, 
there has to be consent to conduct hearings; otherwise, you have to do 
them during the first 2 hours we are in session. It is very rare there 
is an objection, but there is today. So I have no alternative but to 
recess the Senate this afternoon to allow the hearing to continue.
  The Republicans may not want these abuses to come to light, but I 
think the American people have a right to know. This is part of a 
pattern of obstructionism by my friends on the Republican side.
  I want the Senate to debate a bill to reduce gas prices and I want 
the Senate to debate a bill to extend tax credits for renewable energy, 
and now they do not want the Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing 
about coercive interrogation tactics. They can try to use Senate rules 
to silence these debates, but I will use the rules at this time to 
allow the Judiciary Committee to continue the hearing. As soon as the 
hearing is over, we are going to be out here to talk about gas prices.
  I would hope this is framed with a picture that there is a 
Presidential election going on. We have one Presidential candidate who 
wants to do something about these high gas prices, wants to do 
something about the bill to extend tax credits for renewable energy, 
and we have another candidate who is opposed to this. We know who that 
candidate is: it is the Senator from the State of Arizona. And I would 
think that my friend, the Senator from Arizona, who is the Republican 
nominee, would be concerned about this delaying tactic not to allow the 
Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on torture. That is what it 
amounts to.

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