GOP Blocks Action on Senate Intelligence Authorization Bill

[cal04]

Senate Republicans late Wednesday blocked the authorization bill that guides the country's intelligence programs. It was the first time in 27 years that the bill had failed to pass before the end of the calendar year. The Republican "hold" on the bill blocked what was a planned adoption by unanimous consensus. The bill will now wait for Congress to return from its winter recess in late January. "An anonymous Republican placed a hold on the bill and prevented the Senate from working its will," Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said yesterday in a statement on the floor. "As a result, the bill can't go forward."


Reid said the delay meant that "vital intelligence operations are on hold while the bill languishes." But congressional and intelligence community sources said it would not affect current intelligence programs, which are also guided by defense authorizations and appropriations. Democrats were informed last week that Republicans would clear the bill if three amendments, two by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and one by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), would be stripped from the consent agreement.

But Democrats balked because Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), the chairman of the Senate intelligence panel, had agreed to the amendments. Roberts's staff did not return calls for comment yesterday. Kerry's amendment would require the director of national intelligence to give the intelligence panels information on secret CIA prisons in several Eastern European democracies and in Asia. Kennedy's amendments would require the White House to turn over copies of daily intelligence briefs that President Bush and former President Bill Clinton reviewed on Iraq.

Democrats have accused administration officials of exaggerating Iraq's weapons capabilities and terrorism ties to win public support for the war. No weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. Bush has argued that Congress and the Clinton administration had access to the same intelligence that he pointed to in the run-up to the March 2003 invasion. A congressional report made public last week concluded that Bush and his inner circle had access to more intelligence and reviewed more sensitive material than what was shared with Congress.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/22/AR2005122201662.html

[blm]

1. Kennedy and Kerry have been doing great teamwork legislatively.

Too bad the media won't discuss the scope of their efforts. It would give the public a much clearer idea of the REAL DEBATE between the Democrats and BushInc.

[welshTerrier2]

2. checks and balances

either we are a nation that enables a system of checks and balances or we are not ...

bush lied us into a war ... thousands of Americans are dead ... tens of thousands of Iraqis are dead ... more than 10,000 Americans are seriously injured ... the war will end up costing at least 1/2 trillion dollars ... US prestige is in the toilet ... Iraq is less stable than it was before the US invaded ... Iraq's infrastructure has been destroyed and has not been rebuilt ... Iran has far more influence in southern Iraq ... the Iraqi people are living in hell each and every day ... all this and we now live in a much more dangerous world ...

executive power cannot remain unchecked ... bush must be held to account for his actions ... if the record shows he "relied on bad information" produced by the CIA, so be it; if the record shows he "manufactured and manipulated" the evidence, heads should roll ... smirking heads should roll ...

the republican Congress does not act on behalf of America if they seek to protect bush from a legitimate investigation ... it's time to get to the truth and let the chips fall where they may ...