Senate Coverage -- (March '06)

Since "Free Republic is an online gathering place for independent, grass-roots conservatism on the web. We're working to roll back decades of governmental largesse, to root out political fraud and corruption, and to champion causes which further conservatism in America.", I and others think it's a good idea to centralize what the goes on in the Senate (or House).

So if you see something happening on the Senate/House floor and you don't want to start a new thread to ask if anyone else just heard what you heard, you can leave a short note on who said what and about what and I'll try and find it the next day in THE RECORD. Or if you see a thread that pertains to the Senate, House, or pretty much any GOV'T agency please link your thread here.

C-SPAN what a great thing. Where you can watch or listen live to most Government happenings.

C-SPAN 3 (most places web only) carries a variety of committee meetings live or other past programming.

A great thing about our Government is they make it really easy for the public to research what the Politicians are doing and saying (on the floor anyway).

THOMAS where you can see a RECORD of what Congress is doing each day. You can also search/read a verbatim text of what each Congressmen/women or Senator has said on the floor or submitted 'for the record.' [This is where the real juicy stuff can be found.]

FRIST INTRODUCES RESOLUTION OPPOSING U.S. PARTICIPATION IN U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN) today made the following statement after introducing a Sense of the Senate resolution highlighting the shortcomings of the newly established United Nations Human Rights Council and opposing U.S. participation in, or support of, the council:

The newly created U.N. Human Rights Council fails to address the significant failures and shortcomings of the widely discredited U.N. Commission on Human Rights. Since its establishment in 1946, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights sacrificed efficacy and credibility by granting membership to some of the worlds worst human rights abusers, neglecting to condemn state sponsors of terrorism, and failing to act or speak out against numerous cases of egregious human rights abuse.
The new council makes only superficial changes to the former commission structure and falls far short of the standards envisioned by President Bush and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The new council will not prevent serial human rights abusers from gaining membership and cannot be relied upon to monitor human rights abuses throughout the world.
I applaud the administration for opposing the creation of the new council and urge it to oppose U.S. participation in and support of the council in order to uphold Americas own credibility and deny the council unwarranted legitimacy.
If the U.N. refuses to make meaningful changes to the council structure, the U.S. should lead a group of like-minded democracies with a demonstrated commitment to the protection of human rights to create an effective and accountable human rights oversight body outside the U.N. system. The U.S. must adhere to its principles and continue to demonstrate its commitment to meaningful reform and to the protection of human rights.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/06_03_26_corner-archive.asp#093957

The Senate Game Plan
Ed Whelan : Bench Memos on National Review Online: 03/31/06 04:51 PM
According to a senior staffer in Senate leadership, the Senate will likely turn to floor action in May on the long-pending nomination of Terry Boyle to the Fourth Circuit and/or the long-pending nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the D.C. Circuit. The Kavanaugh nomination is still before the Judiciary Committee, but should be reported to the floor soon.
Meanwhile, the nomination of William Myers to the Ninth Circuit is stalled, as some Republican senators are sorting out how his testimony on one issue meshes with the documentary record.
According to a very knowledgeable non-Senate source, the news is much worse for Fourth Circuit nominee William Haynes: Senator McCain is committed to stopping Haynes's confirmation, and Senator Graham, as a favor to Senator McCain, will keep the nomination from being reported out of committee. If this news is accurate, it would appear that there is no hope for Haynes's nomination.
http://bench.nationalreview.com/archives/093956.asp

I wonder why McCain has it in for Haynes. Interesting too, that the REPUBLICANS are looking closely now, at Myers' nomination. Myers was reported out of Committee more than a year ago. His nomination was on the floor when the Senate debated and confirmed Owen, Brown, Pryor, Griffin, McKeague and Griffith - the May/June "success flurry" that omitted HALF of the President's nominees from consideration.

What the deal on judges means - Tom Curry - MSNBC.com
But two other Bush appeals court nominees, William Myers and Henry Saad, were essentially "thrown overboard" by the seven Republican senators who signed the agreement.
Their nominations were filibustered last year and will continue to be, blocking confirmation. ...
One unwritten part of the accord, according to two Capitol Hill sources, was that Bush appeals court nominees William Haynes and Brett Kavanagh, will not get votes on the Senate floor.
"We will try to do everything in our power to prevent filibusters in the future," McCain told reporters.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7957783/from/RL.3/
Rice, Gonzales votes signal Dems' strategy - Tom Curry - MSNBC.com
Soon to come: a battle over Bush's nomination of William Haynes, the general counsel to the Defense Department, who like Gonzales has been accused of complicity in abuse of prisoners. Foes of Haynes, such as People for the American Way, say he appointed members of a Pentagon group that proposed ways of evading treaties banning torture. Haynes, unlike Gonzales, is not a Latino, which makes him an easier target for Democrats. "Haynes - he's on deck - we're working on him," Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. told reporters Wednesday. Kennedy, himself a Democratic presidential contender in 1980, voted "no" on both Rice and Gonzales.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6871426/
Senator Kennedy's Satatement (sic) in Support of the McCain Torture Amendment
...In response to questioning by my friend, Senator Graham, the witnesses acknowledged that the Justice Department's policy embodied in the Bybee Torture Memorandum's definition of torture was a violation of international and domestic law and alarmed the judge advocate generals who reviewed it.
Their alarm was well founded because their concerns were overruled by General Counsel William Haynes who issued the Defense Department's April 2003 Working Group Report. The report twisted and diluted the definition of torture, claimed that military personnel who commit torture may invoke the defenses of "necessity" and "superior orders," and advised military personnel that they aren't obligated to comply with the federal prohibition on torture.
http://www.tedkennedy.com ...

McCain likely has a a primarily political motivation (in contrast with objecting to Haynes as a matter of judicial principal), in that he engineered the Gang of 14, perhaps in part as a way to scuttle the Haynes nomination. He may have agreed with the DEMs to see to it the nomination not move forward. In these related regards, he has face saving and revenge motives. Of course, he can't admit either.

In the case of Myers, I suspect the "one issue" is his handling of "the highly controversial cyanide heap leaching Glamis Mine which rests on sacred tribal land." [Quechan Tribe]. The unstated issue is that Myers' nomination raises the possibility of cloture abuse. The Republicans would prefer to get out of this pickle by finding a reason (or failing finding one, making one up); so that instead of 58 votes for cloture, or a clear majority of Senators in favor of the nomination, they can show President Bush that Myers will not get a majority, and then the nomination will be withdrawn.

S. Hrg. 109-38 : March 1, 2005

CONFIRMATION HEARING ON THE NOMINATION OF WILLIAM G. MYERS III, OF
IDAHO, TO BE CIRCUIT JUDGE FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

CONFIRMATION HEARING ON THE NOMINATION OF WILLIAM G. MYERS III <- PDF (11 Mb)

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