Mark Dayton: GOP Refuses to Suspend 30-Hour Senate Debate for CIA Briefing

[dflprincess]

Mods: I received this in an email from the State DFL office. We on their mailing list are encouraged to spread what they said us around to as many people as possible. I do not believe it is copyrighted.

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Mark Dayton sharply criticized the Senate Republican leadership today for their refusal to suspend, for a period of one hour, the 30-hour judicial talk-a-thon. The one hour suspension would permit all Senators to attend a secret CIA briefing about the war in Iraq. The CIA briefing, scheduled for 3:15 p.m. CST today, conflicts with scheduled time for the debate. Dayton, a member the Senate Armed Services Committee, is scheduled to be on the Senate floor between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. CST and between midnight and 1 a.m. CST Friday.

"It is outrageous that the Republican leadership will not suspend their 30-hour blame-a-thon to permit Senators to attend a very important CIA briefing on Iraq," said Dayton.

"Yesterday and today a leaked CIA Report has surfaced which directly contradicts what we have been told by the Bush Administration during the past several months. According to press accounts, the CIA believes that domestic stability in Iraq, public unrest there, and Iraqi citizen hostility toward U.S. armed forces are all becoming much worse, not better.

"The decisions and actions which the President and Congress should consider immediately are urgent, crucial to our national security, and matters of life and death to the men and women of our armed forces now in Iraq. The average number of attacks each day against U.S. forces has more than doubled during the last two months. U.S. military command and intelligence officials believe that most of those attacks are being carried out by Iraqis, not foreign operatives.

"I am astounded that my Republican colleagues will not give up one hour, or even add one hour at the conclusion, to represent our fellow citizens in that top-secret briefing. I thought that my Republican colleagues had their priorities wrong. But this incident shows an intransigence and obsession which are bizarre. They have lost perspective and proportion."

[neuvocat]

1. Let them shut down the senate.

GOP majority and they can't get anything done. That will go over quite well.

Again.

[Wickerman]

2. Thanks DFLP

I am proud to call Mr Dayton my Senator. Impressive statement from him and despicable actions by the Rethugs.

[grasswire]

7. Dayton...

...is the descendant of a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

[SensibleCenterist]

3. It's all about power

You can't trust them with it, but they got it.

[movonne]

4. Maybe this is all a setup by Rove & Co.

so they cannot go to the briefing.

[MO_Dem]

6. Yep

with Sen. Pantywaist Roberts sticking his fingers in his ears so he can't hear any discouraging words, this guarantees that Democrats don't hear anything either. Lord help us all, pleeeeease.

[yella_dawg]

5. I guess this proves that political grandstanding is

waaay more important than tedious crap like national security and stuff.