tv Key Capitol Hill Hearings CSPAN December 10, 2014 8:30am-10:31am EST
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positions, at times, with their hands tied together over their heads, shaneed to the ceiling. in the cobalt facility i previously mentioned, interrogators and guards used what they called rough takedowns in which a detainee was grabbed from his cell, clothes cut off,f hooded and dragged up and down n dirt hallway while being slapped and punched. the cia led several detainees to believe they would never bee allowed to leave cia custody alive. suggesting to abu zabaydah that he would only leave in a coffin-shaped box. that's a cia cable from august 12, 2002. according to another cia cable cia officers also planned to cremate zubaydah should he notdh survive his interrogation. source, cia cable, july 15,
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2002. after the news and photographs emerged from the united states military detention of iraqis at abu ghraib, the intelligence committee held a hearing on the matter on may 12th, 2004. without disclosing any details of its own interrogation program cia director john mcglocklin testified that ciaer interrogationse were nothing lie what was depicted at abu ghraib. the united states prison in iraq where detainees were abused by american personnel. this of course was false. cia detainees at one facility, a described as a dungeon, were kept in complete darkness, constantly shackled in isolated cells, with loud noise or music and only a bucket to use for human waste.ur the u.s. bureau of prisons personnel went to that location
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in november 2002 and according to a con tame rain just internal cia email told cia officers they had quote, never been in a facility where an individuals are so sensory-deprived, end quote. again, source, ci email, sender and recipient redacted, december 5th, 2002. throughout the program multiple cia detainees subject to interrogation exhibited psychological and wife i don't recall issues including hallucinations, paranoia, insomnia and attempts at self-harm and self-mutilation. multiple cia psychologists identified theen lack of human contact experienced by detainees as a cause of psychiatric problems. the executive summary includes
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far more detail than i'm going to provide here about things that were in these interrogation sessions. it includes only subset of treatment of 119 cia detainees. there is far more detail, all documented in the full 6700-page study. this summarizes briefly the committee's findings and conclusions. before i wrap up i would like to thank the people who made this undertakingrt possible. first, i thank senator jay rockefeller. he started this project by directing his staff to review the operational cables that described the first recorded observations after we learned the videotapes of that first session had been destroyed. that report what led to this
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multiyear investigation and without it we wouldn't have really had any sense of what had happened. i thank other members of the senate intelligence committee. one of whom is on the floor today fromro the great state of new mexico. others have been on the floor who voted to conduct this investigation. and to approve its results and make the report public. but most importantly i want to thank the intelligence committee staff who performed this work. they are dedicated and committed public officials. who sacrificed and really sacrificed, a significant portion of their lives to see this report through to its publication. they have worked days, nights, weekends, for years. in some of the most difficult circumstances. it's no secret to anyone that the cia does not want this report coming out.
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and i believe the nation owes them a debt of gratitude. they are dan jones, who has led this review since 2007. and more than anyone else today is a result of his effort. evan godesman, and chad turner, two other members about the study staff, each wrote thousands of pages of the full report and have dedicated themselves and much of their lives to this project. elissa starzak, who began the review as cohead and contributed extensively until her departure from the committee in 2011. other key contributors to the drafting, editing and review of the report were jennifer barrett, nick batonao, mike buchwald, jim catella, eric chapman, lore venz sew cogo.
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cleat johnson. michael noblik. michael pezner. tommy ross, caroline teff, and james wolff. finally david granits, who has been a never faltering staff director throughout this review. madam president, this study is bigger than the actions of the cia. it is really about american values and morals. it is about the constitution, the bill of rights, our rule of law. these values exist regardless of theof circumstances in which we find ourselves. they exist in peacetime and in wartime. and if we cast aside these values, when convenient, we have failed to live by the very precepts that make our nation a great one. there is a reason why we carry the banner of a great and jugs nation. -- just nation.
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we submit this study on the behalf of the committee and to the public in the belief it will stand the test of time and wit the report will carry the message, never again. i very much appreciate your attention and i yield to senator mccain. >>na mad tam president, i would like president i would like to begin to express my appreciation and admiration to the men and women who serve in our intelligence agencies including the cia. they are out there every day defending our nation. i have read the executive summary and i also have been briefed on the entirety of this report. i rise in support of the release, the long-delayed release of the senate intelligence committee's summarized unclassified review of the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques that were employed by the previous administration to extract
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information fromfo captured terrorists.ts it's a thorough and thoughtful study of practices i believe not only failed their purpose to secure actionable intelligence to prevent furthernt attacks on the u.s. and our allies, but actually damaged our security interests as well as our reputation as a force for good in the world. i believe the american people have a right, indeed, responsibility, to know what was done in their name, how these practices did or did not serve other interests. and how they comported with our most important values. i commend chairwoman feinstein and her staff for their diligence in seeking a truthful accounting of policies i hope we will never resort to again. i thank them for persevering against persistent opposition from many members of the
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intelligence community, from officials in two administrations, and from some much our colleagues. the truth is sometimes a hard pill to swallow. it sometimes causes us difficulties at home and abroad. it is sometimes used by our enemies in attempts to hurt us, but the american people are entitled to it nonetheless. they must know when the values that define our nation are intentionally disregarded by our security policies, even those policies that are conducted in secret, they must be able to makee informed judgments about whether those policies and the personnel who supported them were justified in compromising our values, whether they serve ad greater good. or whether as i believe, they stained our national honor, did
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much harm and little practical good. what were the policies, what was their purpose? did they achieve it? did they make us safer, less safe? or did they make no difference? what did g they gain us? what did they cost us? the american people need the answers to these questions. yes, some things must be kept from public disclosure to protect clandestined operations sources and methods but not the answerssw to these questions. by providing them the committee has empowered the american people to come to their own decisions about whether we should have employed such practices in the past and whether we should consider permitting them in the future. this report strengthens self-government and ultimately i believe america's security and stature in the world and i thank the committee for that valuable
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public service. i have long believed some of these practices amounted to torture as a reasonable person a would define it especially but not only the practice of waterboarding which is a mock execution and an exquisite form of torture. its use was shameful and unnecessary and contrary to assertions made by some of its defenders, and as the committee's report makes clear, it produced little useful intelligence to help us track down the perpetrators of 9/11 or prevent new attacks and atrocities. i know from personal experience that the abuse of prisoners will produce more bad than good intelligence. i know that victims of torture will offer intentionally misleading information if they think their captors will believe it. i know they will say whatever
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they think their torturers want them to t say if they believe it will stop their suffering. most of all, i know the use of torture compromises that which most distinguishes us from our enemies, our belief that all people, even captured enemies, possess basic human rights which are protected by international conventions, the united states not only joined but for the most part authored. i know too that bad things happen in war. i know in war good people can feel to do things they would normally object to and recoil from. i understand the reasons that governed the decision to resort to theseio interrogation method. i know that those who approved them and those who used them were dedicated to securing justice for the victims of
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terrorist attacks and to protect americans from further harm. i know their responsibilities were grave and urgent. and the strain of their duty was onerous. i respect their dedication and appreciate their dilemma but i dispute wholeheartedly that it was right for them to use these methods which this report makes clear were neither in the best interests of the justice nor our security, nor the ideals we have sacrificed so much blood and treasure to defend. the knowledge of torture's dubious efficacy and my moral objection to the abuse of prisoners moat sited my sponsorship of the detainee treatment act of 2005 which prohibits, quote, cruel, inhumaa man or degrading treatment of captured combatants. whether they wear a nation's uniform or not.
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and which passed the senate by a vote of 90-9. subsequently i successfully offered amendments to the military commissions act of 2006 which among otherng things prevented the attempt to weaken common article iii of the geneva conventions and broadened definitions in the war crimes act to make the future use of waterboarding and other quote, enhanced interrogation techniques, punishable as war crimes. there was considerable misinformation disseminated then about what was and wasn't achieve using these methods in an effort to discourage support for the legislation. there wasd a good amount of misinformation used in 2011 to credit the use of these methods for the death of usama bin laden and there is i fear misinformation being usedng tody to prevent the release of this report, disputing its findings and warning about the security
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consequences of their public disclosure. with the report's release, will the report's release cause outrage that leads to violence in some parts of the muslim world? yes, i suppose that's possible, perhaps likely. sadly violence needs little incentive in some quarters of the world today but that doesn't mean we will be telling the world something it will be shocked to learn. the entire world already knows that we waterboarded prisoners. it knows we subjected prisonerst to various other types ofg degrading treatment. it knowsit we used black sites, secret prisons. practices haven't been a secret for a decade.een a terrorists my use the reports reidentification of the practices as an excuse to attack americans but they hardly need an excuse for that. that has been their life's
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calling for a while now. what mightht come as a surprise, not just to our enemies, but to many americans, is how little these practices did to aid our efforts to bring 9/11 culprits to justice and to find and prevent terrorist attacks todayt and tomorrow. that could be a real surprise since it contradicts the many assurances provided by intelligence officials on the record and in private that enhanced interrogation techniques were indispensable in the war against terrorism. and i suspect the objection of o those same officials to the release of this report is really focused on that disclosure, torture's ineffectiveness. because we gave up much in the expectation that torture would make us safer, too much. obviously we need intelligence to defeat our enemies but we need reliable intelligence.
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torturouses more misleadingdu information than actionable intelligence. advocates of harsh and cruel interrogation methods have never established is that we couldn't have gathered as good or more reliable intelligence from using humane methods. the most important lead we got in the search for bin laden came from using conventional and humaneig methods. it is inassault from many intelligence officers who acquired good intelligence without hurting or degrading prisoners to assert we can't win this war without such methods. yes we can and we will. but in the end, torture's failure to serve its intended purpose is not the main reason to oppose its use. i have often said and will always maintain this question isn't about our enemies., it's about us. it's about who we were, who we
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are and who we aspire to be. it's about how we represent ourselves to the world. we have made h our way in this often-dangerous and cruel world not by just strictly pursuing our geopolitical interests but by exemplifying our political values and influencing other nations to embrace them. when we fight to defend our security, we fight also for an idea. not for a tribe or for twisted interpretation ofpr an ancient religion or for a king but anha idea that all men are endowed by their creator with inalienable rights. safer the world would be if all nations believed the same? how much more dangerous it can become when we forget it ourselves, even moment tearily. our enemies act without
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conscience. we must not. this executive summary of the committee's report makes clear that acting without conscience isn't necessary. it isn't even helpful in winning this strange and long world we're fighting, war we're fighting. we should bede grateful to have that truth affirmed. now, let us reassert the contrary proposition that is an essential to our success in this war that we ask those who fight it for us to remember at all times that they are defending a sacred ideal of how nations should be governed and conduct their relations with others even our enemies. those of us who give them this duty are obliged by history, by our nation's highest ideals, and the many terrible sacrifices made to protect them, by our respect for human dignity, to
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make clear we need not risk our national honor to prevail in this or any war. we need only remember in the worst of times, through the chaos and terror of war, when facing cruelty, suffering and loss, that we are always americans and different, stronger and better than those who would destroy us.ie madam president, i yield the florida. >> senator from west virginia. >> madam president, i ask unanimous consent to speak in a seated position. >> without objection. >> madam president, i come toth the floor to wholly support the comments of my colleagues, the senator from california and then senator from arizona to speak about a matter of great importance to mepo personally bt more importantly to the country.
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the senate intelligence committee's entire study of the cia's detention and interrogation program, i will just call it the program, is the most indepth, the most substantive oversight initiative the committee has ever undertaken. i doubt any committee has done more than this. it presents extremely valuable insights into the crucialnto oversight questions and probleme that need to be addressed by the cia. moreover the study exemplifies why this committee was created in the first place. following the findings of the church committee nearly 40 years ago. and i commend my friend and the committee's leader, the senator from california, for sheparding this landmark initiative to this point. doors without anyre recognition she has been a strong and tireless advocate and she deserves our thanks and recognition. it is my hope and expectation that beyond the initial release of the executive summary and
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findings and conclusions that the entire 6800-page, 37 1/2 thousand footnotes, will eventually be made public and i'm sure it will, with the appropriate redactions. those public findings will be critical to fully learning the necessary lessons from this dark episode in our nation's history and toe insuring that it never happens again. it has been a very long, very hard fight to get to this point. especially in the early years of the cia's detention program, it was a struggle for the committee get the most basic information or any information at all about the program. the committee's study of the detention program is not just the story of a brutal and ill-conceived program itself. the study is also the story of the break down in our system, madam president, of governance that allowed a country to deviate in such a significant
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and horrific way from our core principles. one of the profound ways that the breakdown happened was through the active subversion of meaningful congressional oversight. mirrored in the bush administration's wiretapping program during that period. i first learned about some aspects of s the cia's detention and interrogation program in 2003. when i became vice chairman of the committee at that point and for years after the cia refused to provide me or anybody else with any additional information about the program. they further refused to notify the full committee about the program's existence. you remember there was always the gang of four, the "gang of six," the "gang of eight." they would take the chairman and vice chairman, take them down to the white house, give them a flip chart, 45 minutes with the vice president and off we go. senator robertsvi and i went don by car and were instructed we couldn't talk to each other on
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thedn way back from one of those meetings. it wasit absurd. they refused to do anything to be of assistance. the briefings i received received little or no insight into the cia's program. questions or requests were rejected and at times i was not allowed to consult with my counsel. i'm not ath lawyer. there were legal matters involved here. they said we couldn't talk to any of our staff, legal counsel or not or other members of the committee who knew nothing about this because they had not been informed at all. it was clear that these briefings were not meant to answer any questions but were intend only to provide cover for the administration and the cia. it was infuriating to me to realize that i was part of a check box exercise that the administrationt planned to use and later did use so they could
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disingenuously claimed that they had, quote, in a phrase i will never be able n to forget, fullg briefed the congress. in the years that followed i fought and lost many battles to obtain credible information about the detention and interrogation program. as vice-chair i tried to launch as been mentioned a comprehensive investigation into the program but that effort was blocked. later in 2005, when i fought for access to over 100 specific documents cited in the inspector general report the cia refused to cooperate. the first time the full senate intelligence committee was given any information about this detention program was september 2006. this was the year after the program, thispr was years after the program's inception and the same day that the president informed the nation. the following year when i became chairman the vice chairman, kit bond and i, agreed to push for
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significant additional access to the program. for heaven's sakes at least allow both the senate intelligence committee and house intelligence committee on a full basis to be informed about this. and also to include our staff's counsel on these matters. we finally actually prevailed and got this access. i think i withheld something from them until they agreed to do that, which enabled us to have much-needed hearings on the program which we proceeded to do. as chairman i made sure that we scrutinized it from every angle however the challenge of getting accurate information from the cia persisted. it was during this period that the house and senate considered the 2008 intelligence authorization act and a potential provision that set the army field manuel, which is the only way to go. it set that as the standard for the entire american government.
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obviously including the cia. this would have effectivelyth ended the cia's enhanced interrogation techniques, a term early sanitized in bureaucratic jargon for what in a number of cases amounted to torture. as chairman i knew the inclusion of the army field manuel provision would jeopardize the bill. itas might bring it down. people would think it was too soft or too radical or whatever. which i was committed to seeing happened, signed into the law, that is the bill, but in the end it was an easy decision. i supported including the end of the cia's program because it was the right thing to do. and i did it because congress needed to send a clearest signal it did not stand by the bush administration's policy. this is not just going to be a critique of the bush administration incidentally. the house and and senate went on to pass theh bill with bipartisn votes and although the bush
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administration vetoed the bill to preserve its ability to continue thesehe practices, it s an important, symbolic moment. in the same period i also sento two committee staffers as our chairman, chairwoman hasn't indicated, to begin reviewing cables at the cia. regarding the agency's interrogations of abu zabadah and al-nashiri. i fully believed we had to review the cables which are then only source of important historical information on this subject because the cia destroyed these tapes. which they had done of some of their interrogation sessions and they destroyed those tapes against the explicit direction from the white house and the director of national intelligence. the investigation that began in 2007 0 grew under chairman feinstein's dedication and
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tremendous leadership into a full study of the cia's detention and interrogation program. the more the committee dug, the more the committee found. and the results were uncovered are shocking and deeply troubling. first, the detention interrogation program was conceived by people who were ignorant of the topic. and made it up on the fly. based on the untested theoriesie of contractors who had never met a terrorist or conducted a real-world interrogation of any kind. second, it was executed by personnel with insufficient linguistic and interrogation training and little if any real world experience. the cia was aware that many solve these personnel had a staggering array of personal and professional failings and enumerated by the committee's chairwoman.
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including potentially criminal activity and should have disqualified them immediately, not only from being interrogated but from being employed by the cia or anybody in government. nevertheless it was consistently represented that these interrogators were professionalized and carefully vetted. their term. that became a part of the hollow legal justification of the entire program. third, the program was managed incompetently by senior officials who paid little or no attention to critical details. it was rife with troubling personal and financial conflicts of interest among the small group of cia officials and contractors. who promoted and defended it. obviously it was in their interests. fourth, it was as the chairwoman hasn't indicated physically very
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severe, the program.ra far more so than any of us outside of the cia ever knew. though waterboarding was received always the most attention there were other techniques that personally believe, one in particular may have been in fact. finally its results were unclear as best and to congress ands media as silver bullet indispensable to quote, saving lives. that was their mantra. . . argumented that it did provide. to be perfectly clear, these harsh techniques were not approved by anyone ever. for the low-bar standard of learning useful information from detainees. these techniques were approved because the administration lawyers and first of all, were told and therefore believed that
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these coercive interrogations were absolutely necessary to elice i think intelligence that was unavailable by any other collection method and would save american lives. american lives. >> it was simply not the case. for me personally the art of the story comprises more than a decade of my 30 years as work in the senate, and one of the hardest fights i think the hardest fight i've ever been through. many of the worst years were during the bush administration. however, i did not fully anticipate how hard these last few years would be. how hard it would be in this administration to get the summary declassified and to tell
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the full story of what happened. indeed, to my great frustration, even after months of negotiations, endless negotiations, significant aspects of the story remain obscured by black ink. i have great admiration for the president and i'm appreciative of the leadership role he is taken to depart from the practices of the bush administration on these issues. his executive order formally ended the cia's detention program practices, and it's a good example. it's a great example. and so it was therefore with a deep disappointment that over the course of a number of private meetings and conversations i came to feel that the white house is strong deference to the cia throughout this process has at times worked at cross purposes with white house is stated interest in transparency and has muddied what should be a clear and unequivocal legacy on this issue.
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while aspiring to be the most transparent administration in history, this white house continues to quietly withhold from the committee more than 9000 documents related to the cia's programs. i don't know why. they won't say and they won't produce. in addition to strongly supporting the cia's insistence on the unprecedented redaction of fake names in the report, which obscures the public's ability to understand the important connections which are so important for weaving together a tapestry, the administration also pushed for the redaction of information in the committee study that should not be classified, contradicted the administration's own executive order on classification. let me be clear. that order clearly states that in no case shall information fail to be declassified in order to conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative
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error, or prevent embarrassment to a person, an organization or to an agency, closed quote. in some instances the white house not only, asked not only that information be redacted but that the redaction itself be removed so that it would be impossible for the reader to kill something that was already hidden. strange. given this, looking back, i am deeply disappointed rather than surprised that even when the cia inexplicably conducted and are not crisis searched of the committee's computer files and e-mails at an off-site facility which were potentially criminal, and even when it became clear that the intent of the search was to suppress the committee's awareness of an internal cia documents and review that corroborated parts of the intelligence committees study
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and contradicted the public cia statement, the white house continued to support the cia leadership, and that support was unflinching. despite these frustrations i've also seen how hard chairman feinstein has fought against great odds, stubborn odds, protective odds, mysterious odds which are not really clear to me. i've try to support her thoughtful and determined efforts at every opportunity to make sure as much of this story can be told as possible, and i'm to be proud of the product that the committee ended up with. now it's time to move forward. for all of the misinformation and incompetence and brutality of the cia program, the committee stated is not and must not be simply backward looking condemnation of the past. the study presents a tremendous opportunity to develop forward-looking lessons that
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must be central to all future activities. the point has been made, and i thoroughly agree with it, but the passenger to people who work at the cia, and their tens and tens of thousands of them, do very good work and are working very hard and had nothing to do with any of this. that if this report have not been released, the country would've felt that everybody at the cia, and the world would've felt that everybody at the cia was involved in this program. it's important to say that was not the case. it was just 30 or 40 people at the top. many of the people you see on television blasting this report were intimately involved in carrying it out and setting it up to the cia developed the detention program in a time of great fear and anxiety, unprecedented crisis. but it is at these times of crises when we need sound judgment, excellence, and
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professionalism from the cia the most. when mistakes are made a call for self reflection and scrutiny and without process to begin we first have to make sure there is absolute accurate public record of what happened. that we are continuing to do. the public release of the executive summary and findings and conclusions is a tremendous and consequential step towards that end. from some i expect there will be a temptation, the fact to reject, to cast doubt, to trivialize, to attack or rationalize parts of the study that are disturbing or are embarrassing. indeed, the cia's programs dramatic divergence from the standards that we hold ourselves is hard to reconcile. however, we must fight that shortsighted temptation to wish away the gravity of what this study found. how we deal with this
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opportunity to learn to improve will reflect on the maturity of our democracy. as a country we are strong enough to bear the weight of what the mistakes that we have made. and as an institution so is the central intelligence agency. we must confront this dark period in our recent history with honesty and critical introspection and. we must draw lessons. we must apply those lessons as we move forward. although it may be uncomfortable at times, ultimately we will grow strong and we will ensure that this never happens again. i thank the presiding officer and yield the floor. >> senator saxby chambliss, the senior republican on the intelligence committee defended the cia interrogation program following the race of senator feinstein's report. he joined other republican senators in releasing a separate document crediting the program with saving american lives and
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weakening al-qaeda. his remarks on the senate floor are 20 minutes. >> madam president, i rise today as the vice-chairman of the senate select committee on intelligence to respond to the public release of the declassified version of the executive summary and findings and conclusions from the committees study of the cia's detention and interrogation program. this is not pleasant duty or me. during my four years as the vice-chairman of the intelligence committee, i've enjoyed an excellent relationship with their chairman, senator dianne feinstein. we have worked closely to conduct strong bipartisan oversight of the u.s. intelligence community, including the passage and enactment of significant national security legislation. however, this particular study has been one of the very, very few areas where we have never been able to see eye to eye.
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putting this report out today is going to have significant consequences. in addition to reopening a number of old wounds, both domestically and internationally, it could be used to incite unrest and even attacks against our service members, other personnel overseas, and our international partners. this report but also stoked additional mistreatment or death of american or other western captives overseas. it will endanger cia personnel, sources coming future intelligence operations. this report will damage our relationship with several significant international counterterrorism partners at a time when we can least afford it. even worse, despite the fact that the administration, and many in the majority are aware of these consequences, they have chosen to release the report
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today. the united states today is faced with a wide array of security challenges across the globe, including in afghanistan, pakistan, syria, iraq, yemen, north africa, somalia, ukraine, in the list goes on. instead of focusing on the problems right in front of us, the majority side of the intelligence committee has spent the last five years and over $40 million focused on a program that effectively ended over eight years ago while the world around us burns. in march 2009 when the committee first undertook the study, i was the only member of the intelligence committee that voted against moving forward with it. i believed then as i still do today that vital committee and
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intelligence community resources would be squandered over a debate that congress, the executive branch, and the supreme court had already settled. this issue has been investigated or reviewed extensively by the executive branch, including criminal investigations by the department of justice, the senate armed services committee, the international committee on the red cross, as well as other entities. congress has passed two separate acts directly related to detention and interrogation issues. specifically, the detainee treatment act of 2005 and the military commissions act of 2006. the executive branch term in the cia program and directed that future interrogations be conducted in accordance with u.s. army field manual on interrogation. also, the supreme court decided
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in 2004, humvee versus rumsfeld in 2004, tom donath versus rumsfeld in 2006, as well as in 2008. all of which established that detainees are entitled to habeas corpus review and identified certain deficiencies in both the detainee treatment act and the military commissions act. by the time i became vice-chairman, the minority had already with on from active participation in the study as a result of attorney general holder's decision to reopen the criminal inquiry related to the interrogation of certain detainees in the cia's interrogation program. this unfortunate decision deprived of the committee of the ability to interview key witnesses who participated in the cia program, and essentially limited the committees study to
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the review of a cool documentary record your now, how can any credible investigation take place without interviewing witnesses? this is a 6000 page report, and not one single witness was ever interviewed in this study being done. this is a poor excuse on the type of oversight that the congress should be conducting. there is no doubt that the cia's detention and in country and interrogation program which was hastily executed in the aftermath of the worst terrorist attack in our nation's history, had flaws. the cia has admitted as much in its june 27, 2013, response to the study. there is also no doubt that there were instances in which cia interrogators exceeded their
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authorities and certain detainees may have suffered as a result. however, the executive summary and findings and conclusions released today contain a disturbing number of factual and analytical errors. these factual and analytical shortfalls ultimately lead to an unacceptable number of incorrect claims and invalid conclusions that i cannot endorse. the study essentially refuses to admit that cia detainees, especially cia detainees subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques, provided intelligence information which helped the united states government and its allies to neutralize a numerous terrorist threats. on its face this refusal doesn't make sense, given the vast amount of information gained from these interrogations, the thousands of intelligence reports that were generated as a result of them, the capture of
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additional terrorists and the disruption of the plots those captured terrorists were planning. instead of acknowledging these realities, the study adopts an analytical approach designed to obscure the value of the intelligence obtained from the program. for example, the study falsely claims that the use of enhanced interrogation techniques played no role in the identification of josé padilla, because abu zubaydah, a senior member of al-qaeda with direct ties to osama bin laden, provided information about josé padilla at that an investigation by fpi agents work schools of using what's rapport building techniques against them more than three months prior to cia's use of doj approved enhanced interrogation techniques. what the study ignores, however, is the fact that abu zubaydah's
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earlier interrogation in april of 2002 actually did involve the use of interrogation techniques that were later included in the list of enhanced interrogation techniques. specifically, the facts demonstrate that abu zubaydah was subjected to around-the-clock interrogation, that included more than four days of dietary manipulation, nudity, and more than one and 26 hours, which is about five days, of sleep deprivation during a 136 hour period i the time the fpi finished up the eight and one half hour interrogation shift in which abu zubaydah finally yielded the identification of josé padilla. so during a five day time period, abu zubaydah got less than 10 hours of sleep. yet the majority does not
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acknowledge that this was an enhanced interrogation. in light of these facts, the study's claims that the fpi was exclusively using rapport building techniques is nothing short of being dishonest. more important, the actionable intelligence gleaned from enhanced interrogation of abu zubaydah that started in apri april 2002 serve as the foundation for the capture of additional terrorists and the disruption of the plots those captured terrorists were planning. his information was also used to gather additional actionable intelligence from these newly captured terrorists which in turn led to a series of successful capture operations and plot disruptions. by the study's own count, the numerous interrogations of abu zubaydah resulted in 766 sole source disseminate intelligence reports.
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now, that's an awful lot of actionable intelligence collected under the cia program that this study tries to quietly sweep under the carpet in an effort to support its false headline that the cia's use of enhanced interrogation techniques was not effective. the study also overlooked several crucial intelligence successes that prevented terrorist attacks against the united states and our allies around the world. al-qaeda affiliated extremists subjected to the programs enhanced interrogation techniques made admissions that led to the identification of the man responsible for plotting to september 11 attacks, khalid sheikh mohammed, or the ksm. the program also help stop terrorist attacks on the u.s. homeland and against our military forces overseas. al-qaeda affiliate abu zubaydah's statements to interrogators led to the
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identification of josé padilla, an al-qaeda operative past -- caspast with conducting a terrot attack inside the united states. the interrogation of ksm disrupted al-qaeda's plotting against camp looming a in djibouti, a critical base of operations in the war on terror in africa. and at the time home to some 1600 u.s. military personnel. there is no telling how many lives this program saved in those particular interrogations alone. intelligence gathered under the detention and interrogation program also prevented terrorist attacks on our allies in the united kingdom. terrorist plots against london's heathrow airport and canary wharf, a major london financial center, were disrupted because key conspirators are apprehended and questioned on the basis of
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intelligence gathered using several interrogation techniques, including enhanced interrogation techniques. and final information from detainees held in the program was critical to ascertaining the true significance of the al-qaeda facilitator who served as osama bin laden's personal courier, the man who ultimately lead cia intelligence analysts and the navy seals to bin laden himself. for anyone interested in a nice chronological survey of the significant intelligence gained from the program and how it was used to capture additional terrorists and disrupt terrorist plots, i would invite you to read two pages of our minority views, pages 96 and 97, the lineage exactly a chronology of
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significant intelligence that allowed for takedown of individuals. it seems as though the study takes every opportunity to unfairly portray the cia in the worst light possible. presupposing improper motivations and the most detestable behavior at every turn. and now the very enemies who the program helped keep at bay for all those years, as well as adversarial nations, will be able to exploit what is essentially a dangerously insightful and constructive treasure trove of information about our intelligence operations. i'm all for pointing out and cracking problems with the intelligence committee, and i've been outspoken on some of them. but i prefer our oversight be conducted quietly and in a manner that does not jeopardize the national security of the united states. ultimately, our minority views examined eight for the study's most problematic conclusions,
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many of which attack the cia's integrity and credibility in developing and implementing the program. these problematic claims and conclusions created the false impression that the cia was actively misleading policymakers and impeding the counterterrorism efforts of other federal government agencies during the program's operation. we found that these claims and conclusions were largely not supported by the documentary record, and were based upon flawed reasoning. specifically we found that, one, the cia's detention and interrogation program was effective and produced valuable and actionable intelligence. number two, most of the cia's claims of effectiveness with respect to the use of the ids were accurate. free, the cia attempted to keep
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the congress informed of its activities and did so on a regular basis but as a member of the committee, daish as a member of the committee i can attest to the. number four, the cia did not impede white house oversight. the white house was very involved in doing oversight of the program. five, the cia was not responsible nor did hav it have control over sharing or dissemination of information to other executive branch agencies or to members of the vegetables committee. six, many of the study's claims about the cia providing inaccurate information to the department of justice or themselves totally inaccurate. seven, the cia did not significantly impede oversight by the cia office of the inspector general. and, kate, the white house determined that the cia would have the lead on dealing with
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immediate regarding detainees. these findings are not matters of defense of the cia. the cia is fully capable of defending its own actions, and i know will do so. rather, these findings are a critique of certain aspects of this particular study. as a general rule i want our committee findings, conclusions, and recommendations to be unassailable in every investigation that we conduct. unfortunately, that didn't happen here, and i'm very concerned about the unintended consequences that will result from the studies erroneous and inflammatory conclusions. i imagine that some members of the media may choose to repeat the studies fall set lines contained in the report without checking the underlying facts. by doing so they will only be damaging their own credibility. i invite anyone who reads the studies executive summary and findings and conclusions to pay particular attention to how
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often the text uses absolute, such as quote played no role, no connection, or no indication, closed quote. please then read our minority views to find the clear counterexamples that disprove most of these absolute claims. i suspect that the reader to make this effort will be disappointed, as i was, that this study make so many inaccurate claims and conclusions. our minority views also explain how the study was crippled by numerous procedural irregularities that hampered the committee's ability to conduct a fair and objective review of the cia's detention and interrogation program. these procedural defects resulted in a premature committee vote in december of 2012 to approve the study before the text was adequately reviewed
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by the committee membership, or subjected to a routine fact checked by the intelligence community. typically, once a senate committee report has been approved, staff are only authorized to make technical and conforming changes. the executive summary and findings and conclusions released this week have undergone such extensive and unprecedented we vision since the study was approved back in december of 2012 that the traditional concept of technical and conforming changes has now been rendered meaningless. amazingly, the majority made significant changes in the substance of the study for months after it was voted on by the committee. in addition, after we submitted our minority views, the majority staff then went back and made a few changes to specifically correct some of the more blatant errors that we identified in the
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views, and that cia identified in the review. while i am pleased that our views led to some minor improvements in the study, those untimely changes required us to add text explaining the validity of our initial conclusions and criticisms. simply put, the documents released today are very different from the documents that were approved almost exactly two years ago by the committee at the end of last congress on a partisan basis. another significant weakness of this study is its disregard of the context under which the cia's detention and interrogation program was developed. it is critical -- >> you can watch the rest of yesterday's senate floor speeches on cia interrogations report as well as tribute to retiring members anytime on your website. codices than.org. u.s. senate is about to gavel
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in. they will begin with the members continue work on a $577 billion bill for defense programs for next year. authorizes funding for the war on ice and includes money to train syrian rebels and afghan army and contains new provisions to counter sexual assault in the military. now live to the senate. will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. almighty god, the author and finisher of our faith, teach us to rejoice in the privileges you have strewn on our path to be used to bless others. lord, strengthen our lawmakers to resist the temptations that would seek to lure them from your purposes. give them clear sight that they
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may know what to do. give them courage to embark upon the fulfillment of your will as you provide them with the skills needed to find a way through all our nation's challenges. empower them to persevere in doing what is right, enduring to the end. help them to begin to continue and to end all things by trusting you. we pray in your great name amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america
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and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c, december 10, 2014. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable edward markey, a senator from the commonwealth of massachusetts, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president, following my remarks and those of the republican leader the senate will resume consideration of the motion to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment h.r. 3979. mr. president, that's the defense authorization bill. very important piece of
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legislation. i would hope that senators would understand the quicker we get this done, the sooner we can get to the omnibus and the tax extenders and other things we have to do before we leave. i would note that it seems very likely that we'll have some votes this weekend. everyone should understand that. if we can work a way not to have them, we won't. but i just want to put everybody on notice that if they're not here this weekend, they can miss votes. mr. president, when the senate convened for the first time in april of 1789, there was a lot to do and that's an understatement, but not the least of which was to establish a system of rules to govern proceedings in the united states senate. the first few weeks and months were going to be difficult as they tried to sort out the structure and organization of this institution, but they had an idea. two days after achieving its first quorum, the senate selected a secretary to oversee the day-to-day operations for
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what would become the world's greatest deliberative body. the importance of this position can't be overstated. senators and their staffs come and go. the secretary of the senate provides much-needed stability and support. to put things in perspective, the entire history of this country, 225 years, we've only had 32 secretaries of the senate, by contrast there's been almost 2,000 united states senators who have served since its interception. and that number will grow of course come january. for the last eight years nancy erickson has served superbly as secretary of the senate. to be quite honest, that's what we expected her to do when she got this job. i came to know nancy when i was the assistant leader, a friend and confidante in senator daschle. every time i walked in that office, there she was, always
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so, so very, very nice. she was a pleasant person. she was always smiling. we had some big issues but she was always pleasant to everybody. her first job here in the senate was for tom daschle. she became his scheduler. but she assumed more responsibility becoming deputy chief of staff. when senator daschle left the senate nancy transitioned to the sergeant at arms office where she worked as liaison to democratic senators in the office. she is a native of brandon, south dakota. she majored in history and government at augustana college in sioux falls. she moved to washington, d.c. in 1987. her husband tom is from sioux falls. john thune used to purchase suits from nancy's father-in-law. her first job here in the senate was for senator daschle. in her current office,
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cincinnati is i has a collection of south dakota -- nancy has a collection of south dakota maps hanging on the walls. one of the railroad tracks to cross south dakota in 1986, one of water town, south dakota and she has others. she has a rand mcnally map of a long time ago that covers the entire state. as i indicated when senator daschle left the senate, nancy transitioned to the sergeant at arms office where she worked as liaison to democratic senators and their office. when i became the leader and the time to select a new secretary, i didn't look very far. i urged her to consider the position. i'm glad she did. i've not regretted that decision not for a second. she's proven herself to be an excellent manager. she has 26 departments, 250 employees directly under her supervision, not to mention the other 6,500 senate employees who
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defend on her and her office -- who depend on her and her office. she's been faced with some difficult times during her tenure as secretary of the senate. it's been a lot of roiling, sequestration, a new health care rollout and of course last year's shutdown. she's confronted each difficult obstacle with skill, composure, and that wonderful smile she has. her success as secretary stems not only from her excellent abilities but also from her character. she's a genuinely good person and she's very thorough, very thoughtful. i've already said that. very kind, i've already said that. very understanding, i've already said that. and, mr. president, something i haven't said, she's very fair. as she walks through the halls here in the is in the floor, she always has a smile every place she goes. i've said that -- many times and
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that's her legacy and it's a good legacy. i've never -- never might be an exaggeration, but extremely rarely have i i heard her criticize anyone. nancy's time as secretary of the senate succombing to -- is coming to an end and she is going to be greatly missed. she has attended to every need day and night. she's earned a break and i hope she takes one. i hope she gets to spend some time with tom, her husband; her daughter drew. and i can still see in my mind's eye that picture she had of little patrick, a little tiny boy. she had that on her desk forever. he kept getting bigger and bigger and became an athlete, and we had many conversations because, i try not to boast about a lot of things but i'm always anxious to boast about my youngest son who is a stellar
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athlete, played on three teams at the university of virginia. i watched become patrick becomes a soccer player. there will never be another person like nancy erickson. people like her don't come along very often but she leaves a legacy in this great body. thank you, nancy, for your service to the country. mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that there appear a separate place in the record for my remarks i'm going to make now. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: when secretary erickson steps down, so does the assistant secretary of the senate, sheila dwyer. sheila has a long history from the united states senate. sheila's time started long ago, and i'm not going to talk about how long ago, but she was a senate page during the time, of course, when she was in hool.
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but after her -- she was in high school. after her semester as a page, she like all these young pages who are here for the semesters they come, returned home as she did to connecticut. she loves to boast about what a great state connecticut is. i've listened to her do that for many years. but her heart has always been with the senate from the time she was a page, and she returned after her education. she got a degree at suffolk university. we've had many conversations about her time with chuck robb. she is a family friend of the robbs, close to them. she later worked for senator patrick moynihan. mr. president, i talked to his widow within the past couple of weeks. what a unique man senator moynihan is. there is a new book out and i asked my staff to get a copy of
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it, to talk about this unusual man. i'm anxious to read it because he was brilliant but also had a few -- he was eccentric in some ways, and sheila loves to tell privately -- and i'm not going to repeat them here on the floor, some of the things he did that would appear to a lot of us to be a little bit eccentric. but that was part of his unique quality and she handled him so well, as well as anyone could. she worked for another man with a huge personality, senator fritz hollings. mr. president, he would, although he was 90 years old, he would still be here in the senate except his wife became ill. he's physically strong today, bright of mind, and i can hear this man's voice from where he stood. what a voice he had. a man who was the epitome of what a senator should look like. he was a handsome man.
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i repeat, he had this great voice. he was very tall, stood very erect. i'm always very envious of how he could stand so tall. and had a sense of humor that was quite remarkable. sheila is his friend. she visits him in his home in south carolina now. and she's helped me keep in touch with fritz hollings. and then, mr. president, she worked for me. i was so fortunate. i was looking for someone to do my fund-raising a very difficult election i had before me. i know who i wanted but i didn't know that i could get her, and we worked things out. but it wasn't just because i offered her more money. it was because she wanted to work with me. and i'm so happy that that came to be. for 14 years she's been part of
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my team, and i mean part of my team. during that entire time she's done an incredible job. when she was doing my senate business as a candidate, when she was doing senate business here as assistant secretary, she's been the best. so when the time came, mr. president, after having -- she worked for the senators i've mentioned, including me, it came time to fill that role of assistant secretary of the senate, she was a perfect candidate. in this position, she has not disappointed me once. everyone who's ever worked with sheila knows she is a meticulous planner. if you want something done, an event, and done right -- and i mean done right -- help set up the program, what the flowers are going to look like, what the food is going to be, what time it should start, what time it
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should end, and she is very, very precise in when it should start and when it should end. we learned that last night in the farewell for a number of democratic senators. she really spares no effort, leaves no detail unattended. her time here in the secretary's office has been a smashing success. it's not easy to attend to the needs of 100 senators, democrats, republicans, independents, their families and staffs, but sheila handles it with skill and with grace. that's why i call her the mayor of capitol hill, and for good reason. whether she's escorting the president's daughter to the inauguration podium in her bright pink coat or planning a ceremonial dinner in statuary hall, sheila does the job exceptionally well. just one example: two years ago the senate hosted a screening of
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steven spielberg's now legendary film "lincoln." there were some real big shots there: spielberg, daniel day lewis, the guy that wrote the script. they were all there. so there were frankly a lot of prima donnas there, including all the senators. so it was an exceptionally difficult feat to pull off. coordinating attendance for 100 senators. they all wanted to go and see this -- these famous people. so she was preparing a panel discussion with the cast and crew, all while following school district capitol protocols as to who could go where and what we could do and the places we went. but she had a secret weapon, and that was her. she didn't know it, but that was the secret weapon. she took care of every possible problem, coordinated every single detail, even down to a
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make-shift concession stand in the lobby. it was a wonderful event, marvelous event because for the briefest moment it brought the senate together in a spirit of unity that we hadn't had in some time. it all happened because of her. she is very devoted to her family. her mom, lois, who she has talked to me about endlessly and of course her deceased father. i was trying to help in comforting her as i could when she lost her mom lois. so i can't imagine how proud her parents would be and are from wherever they are looking down on us at the work that sheila's done in her life. i know how proud i am of her. now as she prepares to move on to the next chapter in life, i will do everything i can to help that chapter be a good one.
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i wish her the very best. i along with the entire senate thank her for her steadfast, diligent service that she has rendered as assistant secretary for the last eight years. sheila has a dog she loves, little ava. i hope she takes that little dog on a trip and they have a good time. i'm sure they will. on a personal note, i want to say publicly how much she has meant to me. she has been really part of my family the last 15 years. as most everyone knows, my wife was involved in a very bad accident. who was there? sheila. battling as she did for a year and a half ravaging breast cancer, who was there? i would come home, mr. president, after having been
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unable to do the things around the house. i would have a refrigerator full of food. i mean, not junk. it was wonderful food. she did that not once, not twice but many, many times. she is my friend, my forever friend. she interacts with children, my children as if they were her siblings. she knows everything about them. so, mr. president, even though i won't see her at work every day as i have for 15 years or 14 years, she will always be part of my life.
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mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i'd like to say a few words about my friend and colleague, senator saxby chambliss. saxby, as we all know, is the ultimate southern gentleman. he's a man of his word. he's blessed with the charm and the drawl only a georgian could possess. and he's far, far too modest. he shouldn't be. he's got a lot to be proud of as he looks back at a storied career here in congress. we're talking about one of our nation's top experts on intelligence and national security. we're talking about a standout champion for the men and women of our military. we're also talking about a senator who became chair of the
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agriculture committee just two years into his first term. that's really quite an accomplishment. but once you get to know saxby, it isn't all that surprising. before he came to congress, saxby was a smalltown ag lawyer. he still lives in a rural area, a peanut and cotton farming region far removed from the bright lights of atlanta. saxby's got a feel for the issues that could only be acquired from actual on the ground experience. he understands the real-world impact of what we discuss here in washington. and he cares. on top of that, he's got the disciplined work ethic of a minister's son, which makes sense because he is one. saxby is usually the first guy to raise his hand when there is
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an assignment no one else wants. that's what you saw for him on the gang of six, a politically difficult and work-intensive committee, if there ever was one. but saxby comes here to get things done, not to posture. he takes on projects with the kind of drive and courage you don't often see. how courageous is saxby? well, he accepted an invitation to go quail hunting with vice president cheney, and he lived to tell the tale. the senior senator from south carolina remembers the trip very well. he had to be persuadeed by saxby to come. he still suspects that saxby's real motive was to give cheney a second target. it wasn't the only time saxby cheated death with a vice president.
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lindsay recalls a meeting in baghdad with saxby, joe bidden and the iraqi prime minister. afterward, they boarded a plane and came under fire. here's what saxby said -- "i guess the meeting didn't go that well." so saxby is a comedian, but he is also courageous. he is also persuasive. he's really good at getting his way. it's kind of what you would expect from a former door-to-door fruitcake salesman. i mean, after hawking loaves of spiced dough, there is not much saxby can't sell at this point. we know he was persuasive enough to convince julianne to marry him. saxby and julianne met at the university of georgia. she was a sigma ki pledge sweetheart and she soon became saxby's sweetheart.
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the chamblisss have been inseparable ever since. just in case saxby ever becomes his own category on "jeopardy," here's an interesting piece of trivia -- the president of the same pledge class became saxby's democratic challenger in 2008. the two fraternity brothers are still friendly, and here's how this gentleman remembered saxby from college. he said he looked old. well, julianne fell for him anyway. and it's a good thing she did. this former schoolteacher is better than anyone at keeping him centered, and she has even taught students who would go on to serve on saxby's staff. so it's really quite a partnership. saxby says that the most significant moment of his life is when he met julianne. and that's really something when you consider how much he loves golf. last year, saxby sank a hole in
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one squaring off against the leader of the free world -- that's the president of the united states. he got a signed flag to prove it. but golf is more than just a hobby for saxby. it's a way to get things done. more than most people around here, he understands the value of relationships. he is good at whipping votes and picking up intel from both sides of the capitol. he works across the aisle. and he's unafraid to stand up when something needs to be said. that's the thing about saxby. he doesn't say a lot, but when he does, you know it's significant. you know that there is a lot of careful thought behind it. saxby is a serious legislator who approaches his role as vice-chairman of the intelligence committee in that frame. saxby learns things on the committee that would keep anyone up at night. it's a grave responsibility, but saxby is perfectly suited to it.
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he's always stood proudly in defense of our nation. we're going to miss his sharp wit, his integrity and his judgment. i know saxby's staff is going to miss him, too. some of them have been with him since his days in the house. well, the senate's loss is the chambliss family's gain. i know saxby's looking forward to spending more time with julianne. i know he can't wait to trade the title of senator for a new one -- big daddy. it's what his grandkids call him. he can't wait to see more of them. they're the reason he works so hard here, to build a better future for them for the next generation. saxby will have plenty of stories to share when he leaves, like when he hit that hole in one, when he threw out the first pitch for the braves, and when he made the cover -- listen to
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this -- the cover of "peanut patriot magazine." so saxby has obviously had a long and interesting career. he deserves some time to focus on his family. we thank him for his dedication to this body and the people he represents, and we send him every wish for a retirement filled with joy and with happiness. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the message to accompany h.r. 3979, which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 3979, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986, and so forth..
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the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, i'm pleased to join with senator inhofe, the ranking republican, on the senate armed services committee in bringing to the floor h.r. 3979. this is the agreement between the armed services committees of the senate and the house on the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2015. the house of representatives passed the bill last week by a vote of 300-119.
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if we succeed here in the senate it will mark the 53rd year in a row we have enacted this bill so essential to our nation and the men and women in uniform and their families. i want to thank all the members and staff of the senate armed services committee, and especially our subcommittee chairs and ranking members for the hard work that they have done to get us to the finish line on this bill. i want to particularly thank senator inhofe for his close partnership. for this congress, i have been fortunate to serve with a series of republican chairmen and ranking members, including john mccain, john warner and strom thurmond. they have understood and appreciated the traditions of our committee and the importance of the legislation that we enact every year to our men and women in uniform. that's what this is all about. and jim inhofe, our ranking republican in this congress, has upheld that tradition of bipartisanship and dedication to
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enacting this important legislation through particularly challenging circumstances. our bill includes hundreds of important provisions to authorize the activities of the department of defense and to provide for the well-being of our men and women in uniform and their families. the bill will enable the military services to continue paying special pays and bonuses needed for recruitment and retention of key personnel. it strengthens survivor benefits for disabled children of service members and retirees. it includes provisions addressing the employment of military spouses, job placement for veterans and military child custody disputes. it addresses military hazing, military suicides, post traumatic stress disorder, and mental health problems in the military. it provides continued impact aid to support military families and local school districts.
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the bill includes 20 provisions to continue to build on the progress that we're starting to make in addressing the scourge of sexual assault in the military. key provisions would eliminate the so-called good soldier defense, give victims a voice in whether their case is prosecuted in military or civilian courts, give victims the right to challenge court-martial rulings that violate their rights at the court of criminal appeals, and would strengthen the psycho therapist patient privilege. last week we received the welcome news that the number of incidents of unwanted sexual contact in the military is down and that more incidents are reported so that victims can receive the care and assistance that they need and perpetrators can be brought to justice. with the enactment of the legislation before us and the
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commitment of military leaders, we hope to build on these trends. the bill provides continued funding and authority for ongoing operations in afghanistan and for our forces conducting operations against the islamic state in iraq and syria called isis. as requested by the administration ... excuse me. as requested by the administration, it authorizes the department of defense to train and equipt -- equip vetted members of the modern syrian opposition and train and equip local forces who are actively fighting isis in iraq. it establishes a counterterrorism partnership fund to provide the administration new flexibility
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in addressing emerging terrorist threats around the world. in addition, the bill extends the afghanistan special immigrant visa program, providing for 4,000 new visas and addresses a legal glitch that precluded members of the ruling parties in kurdistan from receiving seize -- receiving visas under the immigration and nationality act. the authority provided in this bill to train and equip activists in syria to take on isis is particularly important because our military leaders and intelligence experts have uniformly told us that airstrikes alone will not be sufficient to defeat isis. american air power has changed the momentum on the ground somewhat and given moderates in the region an opportunity to regroup, but isis cannot be defeated without an opposing force to take the fight to it on
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the ground. and to do that, our arab and muslim partners must be in the league because the fight with isis is primarily a struggle within islam, the hearts and minds of muslims. training and equipping our moderate muslim allies gives us a way to move beyond the use of air power to support them in this fight. our bill takes steps to respond to russian aggression in ukraine by authorizing $1 billion for a european reassurance initiative, to enhance the u.s. military presence in europe, and build partner capacity to respond to security threats of which no less than $75 million would be committed for activities and assistance to support ukraine by requiring a review of u.s. and nato force posture, readiness
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and contingency plans in europe and by expressing support for both nonprovocative defense military assistance, both lethal and nonlethal to ukraine. the bill adds hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to improve the readiness of our armed forces across all branches, active, guard and reserve, to help blunt some and -- i emphasize "some" -- of the negative effects of sequestration. it includes provisions increasing funding for science and technology, providing women-owned small businesses the same sole-source contracting authority that is already available to other categories of small businesses, expanding the no contracting with the enemy act to all government agencies and requiring government-wide reform of information technology acquisition. and although we were unable to
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bring the senate-reported bill to the floor for amendment, we established an informal clearing process pursuant to which we were able to clear 44 senate amendments, roughly an equal number of democratic and republican amendments and include them in the new bill which is before us. i'm pleased that the bill also includes a half dozen provisions to address the growing cyber threat to critical information systems of the department of defense and the nation. one provision which was added to the bill is the levin-mccain amendment, requires the president to identify nations that engage in economic or industrial espionage against the united states through cyberspace and provides authority to impose trade sanctions on persons determined to be knowingly engaged in such espionage.
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a second provision which is out of a committee investigation to cyber defense requires the secretary of defense to establish procedures for identifying contractors who are operationally critical to mobilizeation, deployment or sustainment of contingency operations and to ensure that such contractors report any successful penetration of their computer networks. much more remains to be done, but these are important first steps to begin to respond to the serious threat posed to u.s. interests by cyber attacks. with regard to military compensation reform, we adopted a number of proposals to slow the growth of personnel costs in fiscal year 2015 as needed to enable the department of defense to begin to address readiness
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shortfalls in a fiscal environment constrained by sequestration level budgets while deferring further changes to be made in future years if sequestration is not adequately addressed. in particular, the department requested pay raises below the rate of inflation for five years. this bill provides a pay raise below the rate of inflation for fiscal year 2015. deferring decisions on future pay raises to later bills. the department requested that we slow the growth of the basic allowance for housing by permitting adjustments below the rate of inflation for three years. this bill would slow the growth of the basic allowance for housing for fiscal year 2015
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deferring decisions on future growth to later bills. the department requested that we gradually increase co-pays for tricare pharmaceuticals over ten years. this bill includes a proportionate increase for co-pays for fiscal year 2015. deferring decisions on future increases to later bills. these are not steps that any of us want to have to take. however, the budget control act of 2011 cut a trillion dollars from the department of defense budget over a ten-year period. our senior military leaders have told us that they simply cannot meet sequestration budget levels without long-term structural changes. canceling programs, retiring
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weapons systems and reducing the growth in benefits to reduce the size and cost of our military. a year and a half ago, when sequestration was first triggered, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff testified that sequestration -- quote -- will severely limit our ability to implement our defense strategy, it will put the nation at greater risk of coercion, and it will break faith with men and women in uniform." close quote. at a hearing this spring, he told us that -- quote -- "delaying adjustments to military compensation will cause additional disproportionate cuts to force structure, readiness and modernization." close quote. the department of defense budget proposal also proposed to retire several weapons systems in an effort to meet sequestration level budget ceilings. for example, the department proposed to take half of the navy's fleet of cruisers out of service and to retire the army's
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entire fleet of scout and training helicopters. with regard to navy cruisers, our bill allows the navy to take two cruisers out of service this year, deferring a decision on additional ships until next year's budget. with regard to army helicopters, the national guard -- with regard to army helicopters, the national guard has objected to the plan to consolidate apache attack helicopters in the act of component, so that they can operate at the higher operational tempo needed to both fill their own mission and replace the kiowa mission. the guard maintains that the army should be able to achieve needed savings and meet mission requirements without transferring apaches from the reserve components to the active army. our bill establishes an
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independent commission on the future of the army, to examine army force structure and to make recommendations as to the best way forward for army helicopters. because the army needs the savings generated by the helicopter restructuring now, the bill would allow the transfer of 48 apache helicopters, as called for in both the army plan and the alternative national guard plan before the commission reports. but additional transfers would depend on the recommendations of the commission and subsequent department or congressional action. sequestration is damaging enough to our military, but the damage will be far worse if we insist that the department conduct business as usual without regard to the changed budget circumstances. the budget caps imposed by
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sequestration mean that every dollar we choose to spend on a program that we refuse to cancel or reduce has to come from another higher priority program. our senior military leaders have told us that this will mean planes that can't fly, ships that can't sail and soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who are not properly trained and equipped for the mission that we expect them to accomplish. as the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff told us in january, sending troops into harm's way without adequate training, equipment or technology is a breach of trust with the troops and their families. the painful measures included in this bill are just a down payment on the changes that will be needed if sequestration is not repealed. delaying these things will only make the pay worse later on while damaging the readiness of
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our troops to carry out their missions when we call upon them. i am disappointed that we were unable to make further progress in this bill toward the objective of closing the detention facility at guantanamo bay, cuba. a senate committee reported bill included a provision that would have allowed the department of defense to bring gitmo detainees to the united states subject to a series of legal protections for detention and trial. the provision also included an amendment. this is the provision in the senate committee-passed bill. also included an amendment offered by senator graham that would require the president before authorizing the transfer of any detainees to the united states to present a plan to congress and that congress would be afforded an opportunity to disapprove the plan using expedited procedures. it would have been in a joint
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resolution. i continue to believe that the gitmo facility undermines our interests around the world and has made it more difficult to try and convict the terrorists who are detained there, and i'm disappointed that the house leadership refused to consider this provision even with the graham amendment. finally, our bill includes a package that nor inhofe and i agreed to include, a package which is a bipartisan, bicameral package, and we did so at the request of the committees of jurisdiction and the overwhelming support of our colleagues. the contents of the package were worked out by the senate energy and resources committee and the house natural resources committee who will be imagining that part of the bill on the senate floor, and we have been
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assured that all provisions have been cleared and the package has been cleared by the chairman and ranking minority members of the relevant committees. so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that a full list of our majority and minority staff who have given so much of themselves and their families be included in the record at this point. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: i thank the presiding officer, and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, first, let me just say that -- what a joy it is to be working with senator levin. i know the public out there thinks that no republicans like any democrats and vice versa, that's kind of the flames they try to fan, but it's just not
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true. in this committee, i can only think of two issues that -- where senator levin and i disagreed with each other. the fact that he has been here for -- he has been through 16 of the ndaa's, as either chairman or as ranking member. so i'm sure that's some kind of a record. but just to work with someone you know will be totally honest with you, when you have a difference of opinion, that you're working together, it really is a joy. i would hope we could be an example for some of the other committees where sometimes it's just not that much of a joy. the long history that he has had here and the integrity that he's expressed is just a -- you will be sorely missed, i have to say to my good friend, senator levin. the bill, as senator levin said, that we will be having to get to before we leave, has passed for
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52 competitive years. that really says something, but each year, there is always a problem. the comment that was made on the land package, i think the process is wrong, regardless of the merits of the bill. and of course as was pointed out by senator levin is supported in a bipartisan way by all the appropriate committees. that's not us, that's them. and the process should not allow others to -- so i think that it is flawed and i don't think it's going to happen again, i really don't. i have talked to the people that are going to be involved in next year's ndaa, which by the way we'll start working on in february of this year. so that's why we're going to -- and i will run over a couple of other reasons why we have to get this done, but we have done this for 52 competitive years, and it -- i'm sure that we're going to be able to -- to get this done. we passed this bill out to the floor from our committee, the committee chaired by senator
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levin over here on may 23. that was a day after it was done in the house, out of their committee. so we were ready to do this way back in may, and the problem was we could not get on the floor. i could remember senator levin and me coming down to the floor and just begging people to bring amendments down. we have to have amendments down here because we can't expect the leader to bring this to the floor unless we know the people are going to be working on amendments, and so they did, they responded. we have many amendments come. i don't remember exactly how many were put forth, but i do know that we considered and put in -- into this package when we did it through the big four method, which is the only thing left for us to do, 47 of those amendments. divided almost equally, republican and democrat amendments. so we did consider those amendments and actually put them in as a part of the -- of the bill. and of course despite pushing for months for us to be -- the
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ndaa to be considered under regular order, which we should have done, we should have been able to do, we find ourselves in the unfortunate situation that we're in today. i'm reminiscent of last year. last year, we went all the way up to the 26th of december before we finally passed it. now, it would be really a disaster if we didn't pass it. people don't realize that if we don't pass this bill -- now, our last chance is this week. i mean the house is going to be out of there. there is no way we could have amendments or change anything now from the product that we have. we have already got a lot of the amendments in. but we can't make changes, we can't have another bill because we're out of time. it couldn't happen unless it happens with this bill. i know a lot of people would prefer to have something else, although i know this bill is going to pass by a large margin, it is a good bill. and if people would realize what would happen if we didn't pass this bill, it would be a
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disaster. enlistment bonuses. you know, these kids, a lot of them are over there serving. they have been told that they are going to have certain things happen to them with them with bonuses and these things. well, then all of a sudden on december 31 if we don't have a bill, those expire and those kids would not have enlistment bonuses or re-enlistment bonuses. the retention of incentives, the incentives for troops with critical skills. we hear a lot about the seals and the great work that they are doing. there are others around, but these critical skills incentives would go away on december 31. the incentive pay for flight pay. here is an interesting one now. i have researched this because there's a lot of competition out there with our pilots, the pilots for heavy vehicles as well as strike fighters. they are -- right now, there is competition with airlines. everybody wants to hire these guys, and so there is competition out there.
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but all of a sudden, the flight pay would come out december 31 if we don't pass this bill. if it comes out, that means we're going to lose some of these guys. it's a $25,000 a year bonus for these guys over a ten-year period, so it is $250,000. however, for each one that decides not to come back, to retrain someone to the status of an f-22 would cost about $17 million. so we're talking about -- we're looking at bonuses of $25,000 and the alternative if we don't get this done by december 31 would be upwards of $17 million for each one of these. so that's really, really significant. we have skill incentive pay for in proficiency bonuses. all of those go out the window. that singularly would be enough reason to say we can't do without it.
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on the -- stop all military production, that would be on december 31. now, one of the areas where the chairman and i disagree is in gitmo, and that's -- we have had a friendly and honest difference of opinion on that. i look at gitmo as one of the few resources we have that's a good deal for government. we've had it since 1904 and it only costs us $4,000 a year and half of the time cuba forgets to charge us so it's a pretty good deal. and there's no place else that we can put, in my opinion, the -- the combatants. people say, well, you can bring them back to the united states. the problem we have with this, if you intermingle some of the people there with the prison population, these are not -- these people down there are not criminals. they're people who teach terrorism. so there are a lot of arguments against that. and i -- that itself could be a two-hour speech here. but i'm not going to get into that. i'm just saying, there are some
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