Lawmakers to examine secretary's handling of prison scandal
Sunday, May 9, 2004 Posted: 3:16 PM EDT (1916 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Congress will investigate Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's handling of the Abu Ghraib Iraqi prison scandal despite Vice President Dick Cheney's call for lawmakers to leave him alone, senators said Sunday.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said critics who call for Rumsfeld's resignation were "missing the boat." But he told NBC's "Meet the Press" that Cheney's statement Saturday night was similarly misguided.
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But Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said Congress needs to make sure "that actions are taken quickly."
"I certainly believe that Vice President Cheney in no way meant that the Congress shouldn't carry out its responsibilities," McCain, another Armed Services member, told "Fox News Sunday." "It's not a privilege that we have. It's our responsibility to find out what happened, to examine this whole process that led us to this shameful moment in America's history."
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Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tennessee, stopped short of calling for Rumsfeld's ouster Sunday, but he told CNN, "I'm one member of the United States Congress who supported the authorization of the use of force who has lost confidence in this defense secretary."
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http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/05/09/iraq.congress