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HOLDS ON INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION -- (Senate - March 28, 2006) GPO's PDF
--- Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, earlier today, my colleague from Alabama, Senator Sessions, alleged that I have a ``hold'' on the Intelligence Authorization Act. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I know that in the heat of debate on the Senate floor, words can sometimes come out faster than a Member might intend, so I harbor no ill will toward my colleague. But in the interest of accuracy, I wish to set the record straight.
Last autumn, many of us were shocked to read allegations in the press of secret clandestine prisons operated around the world by the CIA as part of the war on terror. Congress has a responsibility to perform oversight in all things, including the intelligence community's conduct in the war on terror. In discussing this amendment last fall, I said, and I repeat today, no one is passing judgment on whether these alleged facilities should be closed. We are simply saying that Congress--and specifically the duly established intelligence committees of the House and Senate--need to know what is going on.
On November 10, 2005, I offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act requiring the Director of National Intelligence to provide a secret report to the Intelligence Committees of the House and Senate on the operation, past or present, of these alleged facilities. It would also have required a report on the planned disposition of those allegedly held at these facilities and a determination as to whether interrogation techniques at these facilities were consistent with U.S. obligations under the Geneva Convention and the Convention against Torture.
In debating this amendment, I was delighted to work with my colleague, Senator Roberts, the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and his vice chairman, Senator Rockefeller, to perfect the text of the amendment so they could support it. It passed with overwhelming bipartisan support by a vote of 82 to 9.
About 1 month later, the House of Representative voted 228 to 187 to urge House-Senate negotiators to include the amendment in their conference report. The House Armed Services Committee, however, was concerned that the amendment was beyond the scope of their jurisdiction and the provision was stripped out in conference.
I turned then to the Intelligence Authorization Act and again worked with Senator Roberts and Senator Rockefeller to prepare the amendment anew for inclusion in that legislation. The amendment was identical to the provision passed previously in the Senate and endorsed by the House and was cleared by Senator Roberts for passage by unanimous consent. But someone objected to the unanimous consent request to pass this vital bill by voice vote. Since that time, the legislation has lingered because someone doesn't want a vote on this amendment or the amendments offered by my colleague from Massachusetts, Senator Kennedy.
I know my friend from Alabama voted against my amendment when it was on the floor in November. I am sure he would vote against it again. We can agree to disagree on this issue, but his assertion that I have placed a hold on the intelligence bill is simply not true.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, earlier today, the Senator from Alabama, Senator SESSIONS said that Senator KERRY and I objected to Senate consideration of the intelligence authorization bill because we wish to offer amendments.
In fact, neither Senator KERRY nor I have objected to this bill and no other Democrat has objected to considering it. The bill is cleared on the Democratic side. That means an unidentified Republican Senator or Senators have placed a hold on the bill and are preventing the Senate from considering it.
I do have two amendments to the bill. My first amendment would require the administration provide to the Intelligence Committee with the presidential daily briefs on Iraq from 1997 to the first day of the Iraq war as part of the committee's investigation on the use of prewar intelligence. I would certainly be willing to support a time agreement allowing reasonable debate and a vote on the amendment.
My second amendment would guarantee that detainees held by the intelligence community would be treated humanely, and that treatment would be verified independently.
Apparently, to prevent debate on this very important issue, a Republican Senator is willing to let the whole intelligence bill fail. That's an outrage.
It's important for the Senate to approve the intelligence authorization bill, and it's important for the Senate to get to the bottom of the abuse of intelligence the administration used to justify war.
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