Barbara Boxer: “I don't fault the President for picking someone who believes in this war, who helped him in her position. That is not…”

“I don't fault the President for picking someone who believes in this war, who helped him in her position. That is not the issue. The issue has to do with the lack of candor that continues to come from Dr. Rice. As recently as a few months ago she wrote a letter which resulted in a very important amendment in the Intelligence bill being stripped from that bill. This was a bill by Senators McCain and Lieberman, and this provision was written in part by Senator Durbin. It was an antitorture provision. She opposed it. She wrote that she opposed it. When I asked her about it, she denied that she opposed it, when she had opposed it in writing. I know there are other Senators coming to the floor of the Senate and saying this argument doesn't hold because she made statements that came from faulty intelligence. If that were the case, I would have no problem with Dr. Rice. Everybody knows there was faulty intelligence. But she continues to put out these misstatements. As a matter of fact, in front of the committee, if one listened closely, she muddied the waters even more. So I gave her the chance to clear it up, and she didn't. That is bad for the Senate. It is bad for the American people. Dr. King said--and I often repeat it--our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. This debate mattered. Responsibility matters. Accountability matters.”