The Washington Independent » appropriations committee

Holder: Terrorists Won’t Be Released Into United States

Daphne Eviatar — Fri, 08 May 2009 00:29:13 +0000

Faced with bipartisan resistance to the idea of releasing any of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay into the United States, Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday promised a Senate committee that he would not release any suspected terrorists into the United States, CNN reports.

Lucky for the Chinese Uighurs currently held there, about seven of whom Holder is reportedly planning to release into Virginia, they are no longer considered terrorists, or “enemy combatants” as the Bush administration called them.

Holder’s appearance was just part of the delicate balancing act that has him caught between President Obama’s promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison by the end of this year, and other politicians’ fears about how their constituents will react if any of the men — long deemed by the previous administration “the worst of the worst” — are released into their home states.

Even Democrats such as Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland demanded “consultation” with lawmakers and governors before any release decisions are made, and insisted on “no surprises.”

And Republicans have for weeks been campaigning against Obama’s pledge to close Guantanamo. On Thursday, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) insisted that the plan to close the Guantanamo prison “presents a clear and present danger to American lives.”

Republicans Reps. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) and Pete King (R-N.Y.) on Thursday also introduced the “Keep Terrorists Out of America Act” to prevent the transfer or release of Guantanamo detainees into the United States without the consent of both the governor and legislature of the states where they’d be sent.

On Thursday, Holder promised that “We would not bring them into this country and release them, anyone we would consider to be a terrorist,” adding that the safety of the American public will be his “paramount concern.”

Sifting Through Specter’s New Committee Powers

Mike Lillis — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:43:21 +0000

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) told reporters Tuesday afternoon that he’s worked out an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that will allow the Senate’s newest Democrat to be seated on committees as if he’d entered the upper chamber in 1980 as a Democrat rather than a Republican.

“In discussing that issue with Sen. Reid,” Specter said, “the fair approach which we both agreed to was to be where I would be had I been a Democrat coming into the Senate with my election in 1980. So you can take a look at the charts and figure out exactly where I’d be.”

Notwithstanding any arrangements that Specter might have failed to mention, that means that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who has six years seniority on Specter, would remain at the helm of the Senate Judiciary Committee (where Specter was the senior Republican until today), and would also outrank Specter on the powerful Appropriations Committee.

Asked, however, if he might be in line to take over the chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee’s subpanel on labor, health and education, which is currently chaired by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Specter said only that “we haven’t worked that out yet.”

Harkin, who was first elected to the Senate in 1985, was in the middle of presiding over a swine flu hearing Tuesday afternoon as Specter was making his remarks. You can bet, however, that he’ll be interested to learn that his seat might be up for grabs.

Also of note, Specter will outrank all of the Democrats on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, including chairman Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, who first arrived in the Senate in 1990. Does that mean Specter will replace Akaka at the head of the VA panel? We’re looking into it.

Update: The office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has clarified that no committee or subcommittee chairmanship posts will change this year or next as a result of Specter’s switch.

Byrd Steps Down as Appropriations Chairman

Mike Lillis — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:07:01 +0000

Sen. Robert Byrd, the 90-year-old West Virginia Democrat and the Senate’s in-house constitutional scholar, is stepping down as head of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Politico reported today. Byrd said:

I have been privileged to be a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee for 50 years and to have chaired the committee for 10 years, during a time of enormous change in our great country, both culturally and politically. I have learned that nothing is quite so permanent as change. It is simply a part of living and should not be feared.

Byrd, a staunch defender of Congress’ power of the purse, first took control of the appropriations panel in 1989. Since then, he’s held the post — on and off — as the Senate majority has swung from party to party. Next in line to succeed Byrd is 84-year-old Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).