Yet another roadblock for the White House’s push for “antiterror” legislation: The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee have asked to review and approve the detainee treatment bill currently the subject of intense negotiation by the White House and GOP members of a separate panel.
“It is neither our intention nor our wish to delay Senate consideration” of the legislation, Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) wrote in their letter, which — if honored — is almost sure to delay the Senate’s progress on the proposal. The bill, passed last week by the Senate Armed Services Committee, is awaiting consideration on the Senate floor. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has threatened to filibuster the measure.
Specter and Leahy, the chair and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, wrote to Frist and Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) Wednesday.
The bill in question, S. 3901, is better known as the “Warner-McCain-Graham” bill, because of the three breakaway Republican senators who are pushing it. Its details are at odds with the wishes of the Bush administration, which wants a freer hand in interrogating and prosecuting terror suspects that the bill would provide.
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