June 9, 2009 - Senators Lieberman and Graham have just concluded a press conference held in response to a still unconfirmed move by the Democratic leadership in the House to strip from the supplemental appropriations bill an amendment that would bar the release of detainee photos. That amendment, the Detainee Photographic Records Protection Act, had been attached to the supplemental by a unanimous voice vote in the Senate and with the explicit support of the White House. However, as THE WEEKLY STANDARD reported last Friday, the Democratic leadership has been unable to secure the votes necessary to pass the supplemental and is moving to strip out the Graham-Lieberman amendment under pressure from House liberals.
A senior Democratic aide tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that "the House is putting the demands of the ACLU before the interests of the troops." This aide also said that Liberman and Graham "are going to attach [the amendment] to every piece of legislation that comes down the pike." And indeed as Lieberman said at the press conference this morning, "we already actually added our original legislation as an amendment to the FDA regulation of tobacco bill that's on the floor right now."Graham went even further during the press conference and threatened to shut down the Senate if their legislation is not passed. "We're not going to do any more business in the Senate...so nothing's going forward until we get this right," Graham said. Meanwhile, it may be premature for the left to declare victory. According to Fox News, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is apparently unaware of any deal between House Democrats and Pelosi. "I don't know whether an agreement has been reached," Hoyer said, and Pelosi herself has yet to weigh in on the matter, though reporters have quoted Democratic aides in an attempt to divine her position. ... read more here... and here
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