Mike Levin

I understand there is a pending UC that Senator Udall is to be recognized. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Yes. Under the previous order, the Senator from Colorado is recognized. Amendment No. 1107

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 7:30 p.m., adjourned until Tuesday, November 29, 2011, at 10 a.m…

Senators should expect rollcall votes throughout the day tomorrow in relation to amendments to the Defense authorization bill. ____________________

I see that Senator Webb is on the floor. I know he is going to be making some remarks in a few moments. I would urge other colleagues of ours to do the same. We are in a period now where debate is in order on any of the amendments, whether…

Before the Chair recognizes our friend from Alabama, let me thank the Senator from New Hampshire not just for her kind and warm remarks, but also for the great contribution she has made to our committee. It has been an extraordinary launch…

Let me thank the Senator from Oregon. We are happy to work with him. He is very deeply into these and so many other issues. His contribution is well known to all of us in the Senate. We are happy to work with him on these matters. The…

I note the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.

I ask for the regular order on the Levin- McCain amendment. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment is now the pending question.

I thank the Senator from New Mexico for his remarks. I agree with him; it was a lively debate. I also agree with him it is to be desired that kind of debate occurs more often in the Senate. The Senator from New Mexico has been very active…

Let me notify Senators on our side that we are more than willing to do that same courtesy for them if they would let our staff know at the cloakroom this morning. We can do the same thing for Senators on our side as the Senator from…

We will continue to debate the Defense authorization bill tomorrow. If Senators wish to offer amendments, they should come to the floor tomorrow. There will be no votes tomorrow. The next vote will be around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, November…

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 8:30 p.m., adjourned until Friday, November 18, 2011, at 9 a.m…

Would the Senator from Maine yield? I wanted to thank the Senator from Minnesota for his courtesy because he had no way of knowing that the Senator from Maine was here to offer her amendments. I just want to thank the Senator.

No, I understand. But I am just asking the Senator, is the Senator aware it was the administration that asked us to strike that language, the exception for U.S. citizens?

Is the Senator aware of the fact that section 1031 in the bill we adopted months ago in the committee had exactly the language that the Senator from Illinois thinks should be in this section 31, which would make an exception for U.S…

I just have a question, if the Senator would yield, of the Senator from Illinois.

Would the leader make that unanimous consent effective after there is 5 more minutes of discussion between ourselves?

Would the Senator yield for a question? I think I may be able to satisfy Senator Paul, I hope.

If this bill contained the provisions as described by our friend from California, I would vote against our bill.

In addition to providing in this bill that the determination as to whether somebody is al-Qaida is to be made through procedures which the President will adopt, No. 1, which is flexibility.

If I could, one other question, because the Senator is an expert on this subject. Is it also not true for the first time in terms of determining whether a person is, in fact, somebody who needs to be detained under the law of war--for the…

The Senator is correct. The Senator has led the way to have this kind of additional protection for those prisoners. There is greater protection in this bill because of that review process than there is without this bill.

That is correct, providing flexibility which we should provide in order for the executive branch to have what they want, which is the flexibility. There, I think, many of our colleagues believe there is too much flexibility. But whether…

That is correct--indefinitely. But how long that lasts is a procedure the President is going to determine.

Not necessarily. I think there are occasions where the civilian interrogation may be actually more workable.