mr. graham: i see the senator from. how would you like to do this? a senator: i would like to speak for 10 minutes following senator graham. i will be speaks as if in morning business as i assume that senator graham will be. mr. graham: that's correct. the presiding officer: is there any objection? without objection. the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: i come to the floor to acknowledge an an agreement that i reached with the majority leader and the administration regarding the issue of detainee abuse photos. as you're well aware of, there are some photos that allege -- of alleged detainee abuse that existed for many years. more of the same. nothing new. the president has decided to oppose their release. the aclu filed a lawsuit asking for these photos to be released. in the court documents general petraeus and general owe owed o. it will insight violence against men and women serving overseas and american civilians in theater. there is nothing new to be learned according to the president. this is more of the same. the people involved in abu

mr. graham felt when he found out that donald rumsfeld, wolfowitz and, and the other neocons promoted saddam hussein -- kept telling us that he had weapons of mass destruction when the man was contained for 12 years and now they all have rudolph into the sunset with big money in their bank accounts and i would like to know when are they going to give some of that money back to the american people because now we are suffering. >> guest: well on the question of weapons of mass destruction, clearly that's misjudgment that rumsfeld and all the other top officials in the bush administration are going to have to continue to address. rumsfeld and did believe the intelligence reports that iraq had weapons of mass destruction. but i think of all of the senior administration officials as i write in the book rumsfeld should have known better or he should have questioned that intelligence more aggressively than he did because he made the point always and had for years of trying to warn against the leading to much in the conventional wisdom not challenging enough assumption and intelligence reports. he w

mr. graham. >> guest: i was not saying that wolfowitz, pro-and pfeiffer not neocons. they were. rumsfeld was never really had a card-carrying neoconservative. he was at times a fellow traveler and the found it worth, useful to be associated with them to sign their letters and before becoming defense secretary of serious issues, and to have them in his upper ranks of the pentagon, but he himself was not a card-carrying neoconservative. and, as for the transformation, and there is a lot that could be included under what rumsfeld intended with transformation and part of the problem i think was that, i think by the time he left, it was the buzzword, whose meaning seem to encompass almost anything anybody wanted it to who was trying to effect change of the pentagon. >> host: donald rumsfeld doesn't eagles you wrote that he almost quit. what maid internet around? >> guest: he did almost quit. he was very involved in scouting for of his high-school career and now is very proud of the fact that he stayed at it. and, was not going to be a quitter and was determined to see it through. and

mr. bradley graham felt when he found out that donald rumsfeld, wolfowitz in the other neocons promoted saddamhussein, kept telling us that he had these weapons of mass destruction when the man was contained for 12 years? now they have ridden off into the sunset with big money in their bank accounts. i like to know when they're going to give some of the money back to the american people because now we are suffering? guest: concerning weapons of mass destruction, clearly that is misjudgment. bush and all the other officials will have to continue to address that misjudgment of the weapons of mass destruction. donald rumsfeld did believe that report. of all the senior officials if he should have known better or at least question that intelligence more aggressively than he did. he tried to warn against believing too much in the conventional wisdom, not challenging enough assumptions and intelligence reports. he was very fond of disturbing to people the preface of a book on pearl harbor which warns against falling into this kind of conventional thinking and not challenging conventional wisdom suffi

senator graham. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. attorney general, about gitmo, let's -- one of the reasons that we would contemplate closing guantanamo is that our commanders in the field have suggested that it would help the overall war effort. are you familiar with their statements? >> i looked from the statements of general petraeus, senator mccain. i looked at a couple of statements that you made. >> and i'm just echoing what they're saying. people on the ground in different regions of the world indicate that gitmo has hurt our side. and starting over with detainee policy would be a good idea. do you share that view? >> yeah, i do. as i look at and have spoken with members of the military about the impact that guantanamo has had as a recruiting tool and as a thing that has alienated us from people, nations that should be our allies, i think the closure of guantanamo, the decision to close guantanamo by the president is a good one. >> i think secretary clinton shares the view that it would help us abroad that if we have a starto

graham. senator demint? >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i too thank you for expediting this hearing my only reservation in endorsing inez is that that endorsement might hurt her with this committee. [laughter] >> i hope that you'll overlook that. we are very proud that she is representing south carolina. and she has been an advocate for children. she's practiced environmental law and public interest law. she is a serious nominee for this position and she has dealt with all of the issues and a large controversial public agency in south carolina. and did that with a lot of professionalism and style. and as some of you know, that she and i were in a hard fought race for the senate in 2004. and i was very excited to hear about the nomination and my support means that i hope she won't run against me again. [laughter] >> but we are delighted and i know this committee has had a chance to meet her. there's absolutely no reason that we can't move her through in a hurry and put her at the helm of this agency as the chairman has pointed out. has

graham. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i know you've got to go to lunch, and i appreciate your patience. you have done a very good job of testifying for the committee. i just talked to the white house a moment ago, rahm emanuel, and he's indicated the president will not let these photos see the light of day, have you seen the linerman/graham -- lieberman/graham amendment if the secretary of defense certifies them to be a danger to our troops and civilians overseas? >> i have not seen them but -- >> fair enough. i will get them to you. do you think it would be the preferred route that congress would act on this subject matter rather than executive order? >> yes. i think that having congress act would be a preferred way in which to -- >> would give us a stronger hand and a better way to deal with this issue. >> yes, i do think. >> and i'd just like to let the committee know, my beef is not with the courts. i think unless these documents are classified or congress acts, the courts are making a reasonable interpretation of the freedom of information act as it exists today, and i want to appl

graham. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i know you got to go to lunch. i appreciate your patience. you have done a very good job of testifying before the committee. i just talked to the white house a moment ago, rahm emanuel, he's indicated to me the president will not let these photos see the light of day. he would prefer the congress to act. have you seen the lieberman-graham amendment that would prohibit the release of these photos for a three-year period if the secretary of defense certifies them to be a danger? >> i have not seen that. >> i will get it to you. do you agree with me it would be the preferred route in terms of impressing the court congress would act on this subject matter rather than executive order? >> i think that having congress act would be a preferred way. >> give us a stronger hand and better way to deal with this issue. >> yes. >> i would like to let the committee know my beef is not with the courts. unless these documents are classified or congress acts, the courts are making a reasonable interpretation of the freedom of information act as it exists today

mr. chairman. i've had a chance to consult with senator lieberman and with senator graham, and they do not feel anything short of a signed scuteive order or the senate amendmentment would be sufficient. so i just wanted to say to the chairman that it is my intention to make the motion that i was planning to make earlier. would you like for me to do that now and have debate or how would you like to handle that? i would be happy to yield to the republican leader if he desires to go forward. >> would the chairman like me to make the motion? i move the senate insist on its amendment, senate section 1305, which as we all know from previous discussions is related to the detainee photograph records protection. >> mr. chairman, of course i would like to thank you and through you the conferees for your patience. we tried our best to expedite it and i think we've done a pretty good job. mr. chairman, i have before me a letter from the white house dated june 11, e 2009 addressed to chairman obee and to me. and it says the following. i am writing to urge you to oppose the mcconnell amendment, which is being offered

mr. attorney general, you had exchanges with senator graham and feinstein and koh will the issue of prolonged detention and i chaired a hearing on this topic last week and would simply urge you and the department to consider the various legal and policy concerns that are involved. any system of indefinite detention raises those kind of issues. i would say even with the kind of due process protections that you discussed. i do think this done a -- could be a very big mistake, especially because of how such a system could be perceived around the wormed, frankly after some of the progress that the administration is making to the president's good work in our relationships around the world. another topic, i wrote to the president on monday about my continued concern that the administration has not formally withdrawn legal opinions, including the january, 2006, white paper that provided legal justifications for the bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program. and the letter was prompted in part by a recent speech that i'm sure you're aware of by the director of national intelligence. and w

graham of south carolina for a statement. >> welcome to the committee. >> thank you mr. chairman. i am honored to be here. this is a big honor for all of the people in south carolina to have buy nets. i call her i nets because everybody that knows your feels very comfortable with there is a person. she is an enormously talented person. like to thank the president obama for nominating her. as you indicated this is an area where you can make is quickly. the chairman of the consumer product safety commission holds a public trust and i can assure you that the american consumer and their families are going to be in good hands with i nets at the helm of this very important public safety institution. she has a background that is perfect for the job. she was our superintendent of the education from 1996, excuse me 1990 to 2007. we have the best of the pence mckinney stake in the nation in terms of national testing among our student population and that was a desire for us to make sure students improved, and they did and at the end of her tenure, our state was recognized as having the most rigorous academic standar

mr. mcconnell: let me just say that senator mccain and senator graham can speak for themselves, but neitherf them have ever been in favor of closing guantanamo without a plan to do something. they want to see what the plan is to deal with these terroris terrorists. and beyond that, they can speak for themselves. but they're not in favor of closing guantanamo without a plan. with regard to the suggestion that we should bring these prisoners to the united states and try them, my good friend from illinois has suggested that there's no downside to that. that, you know, why not do it? well, we could. but the question is slo: should? we should not because we passed the military commissions for the purpose of trying these very detainees. there are courtrooms and a $200 million state-of-the-art facility at guantanamo to both incarcerate this and to try them -- incarcerate them and to try them. we know that no one has ever escaped from there and we know we have never been attacked again since 9/11. but let's assume that we did bring them up here for trial. my good friend has suggested, no harm down.

mr. president. following up on majors question. some republican on capitol hill, john mccain and lindsey graham for example, said your response on iran has been timid and weak. today it sounded a lot stronger. it sounded like the kind of speech john mccain has been urging you to get saying that those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history referring to an iron fist in iran, appalled, outraged. were you influenced at all of them accusing you of being intimidated? >> what do you think? [laughter] >> lucki think john mccain has genuine passion about many of these international issues. and i think all of us share a belief that wants justice

mr. president. following up on major's question, some republicans on capitol hill, john mccain and lindsay graham, for example, have said that up to this point your response on iran has been timid and weak. today it sounded a lot stronger. it sounded like the kind of speech john mccain has been urging to you give saying that those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history. referring to an iron fist in iran. deplored, appalled, outraged. were you influenced at all by john mccain and lindsay graham accusing you of being timid and weak? >> what do you think? [laughter] look, i think john mccain has genuine passion about many of these international issues. and, you know, i think that all of us share a belief that we want justice to prevail. but only i'm the president of the united states. and i've got responsibilities in making certain that we are continually advancing our national security interests and that we are not used as a tool to be exploited by other countries. i mean, you guys must have seen the reports. they've got some of the comments that i've made being mistranslated i

mr. mccain: the war bill including a cash for chunkers incentive will eliminate language to keep photos of detainee abuse during the bush administration confidential. madam president, the graham-lieberman amendment that would classify these photos was accepted by voice vote. in other words, any senator who wanted to object or vote against it could have called for it, instead it was unanimously adopted. now, according to the "roll call" article i quoted, that provision will be removed from the emergency supplemental. and according to that article -- quote -- "one senior democratic aide said that lieberman and graham's threat to hold up the supplemental indefinitely unless their provision was included was unlikely to last and predicted that defense secretary robert gates would likely pressure the two defense hawks to relent so funding for the war wouldn't run out." i think this democratic aide highly underestimates senator lieberman, senator graham and the rest of us. madam president, i had a conversation with general petraeus just the day before yesterday and i believe those conversations are confidential and i asked his -- his agreement to -- quote -- "if these photos are rel

graham bell, of course. but few can name the inventor of the wireless phone. a device used by more than half of the world's population. his name is martin cooper. mr. cooper estimates that the technological innovation has enabled us to double the amount of information transmitted over the spectrum every 2 1/2 years. as a result, we are 2 trillion times more spectrally efficient today than when the radio was first invented in 1997. this concept is known as cooper's law. this powerful trend should continue indefinitely unless the government adopts policies that frustrate rather than foster innovation. if i am confirmed you have my commitment to support policies that will promote and not stifle freedom, competition, innovation and more choices. if we adopt such policies we'll create boundless opportunities for american consumers and entrepreneurs alike. additionally if confirmed, i will commit myself to continuing to conduct the affairs of my office in a bipartisan and ethical manner. and i will continue to make decisionses as an independent commissioner at an independent administrative agency. furthermore, i will work to support policies that promote

mr. graham: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: i'd like unanimous consent to terminate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. graham: thank you. i just to want speak about five minutes here as if we're in morning business. i would like to go on the record in support of the kerry-lugar legislation that was passed buyer this body -- passed by this body basically without objection, by voice vote. and it went through so quickly which, to me, demonstrates the power of the bill, and i want to congratulate senator kerry and senator lugar for this piece of legislation. to the public, what i'm talking about is an aid package to pakistan, i think it's over -- it's $1.5 billion a year for the next five years. and i know we need money here at home. trust me, in south carolina, we're the third highest unemployment in the nation. times are tough. but all i can tell the taxpayers and the american people that what happens overseas does matter, and 9/11 was planned in afghanistan. it was a area of the wor

bond, brownback, enzi, graham, martinez, thune, wicker, alexander, cochran, ensign, vitter, and i'm sure there are others. it's a bipartisan bill. now, mr. president, we have already wasted so much time on this. we had to file cloture on a motion to proceed to this heavily bipartisan bill. and once we're on the bill -- i spoke to the republican leader and we thought when he a pathway to having civility here so the republicans would try help us. but, of course, we learned that yesterday the senate g.o.p. still saying "no." democrats need to know when the bring bills up we're going to extend the debate as long as we can even if we can't win. we said okay, let's -- you offer -- you, the republicans, offer four amendments. and they did. they picked all the amendments they wanted to offer want germane to this bill. and i said okay. they were all involving tarp, the money that we all know about by now. and so i said, well, senator -- i told senator from vermont, senator sanders, i said, if republicans want to offer nongermane amendments, i'll be happy to offer your amendment. his is -- his is really a fairly simple amendment, mr. president.