I ask unanimous consent that the legislative fellow in the office of Senator Conrad, Air Force MAJ Jason Jensen, be granted the privilege of the floor for the duration of debate on S. 1867. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is…

I thank the Senator from Arizona. I very briefly described this amendment before, but I will take a few minutes now to describe it in some greater length because it is very significant. It is going to totally change the way we buy…

on behalf of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I am pleased to bring S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2012, to the Senate floor. The Armed Services Committee approved the bill by a unanimous vote of 26 to…

if I could, there are a number of Senators here who want to offer their amendments and make them pending tonight. That is fine with us. Then if they have speeches, I would suggest that they withhold speeches until everybody who has…

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…

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 333 which was submitted earlier today by Senator Feinstein. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title. The bill clerk read…

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

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.

Are his two amendments cleared on your side? We have cleared one. Mr. McCAIN. We should momentarily. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California. Amendments Nos. 1125 and 1126

The Levin-McCain amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Levin-McCain amendment is now pending. Mr. McCAIN. I thank the Presiding Officer. Amendment No. 1064 I would just like to say a couple words about the Paul amendment. I would just like…

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

I move to lay that motion upon the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska. Amendment No. 1114

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

No. 2, that determination shall not interfere with any interrogation which is undertaken by civilian or any other authorities; is that not correct? And, finally, on top of that, there is a waiver that is provided. We have all of that…

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.

But whether they are right or wrong, the facts are in this bill there is flexibility. It is carefully laid out. The President will lay out the procedures and notify the Congress of those procedures. But the point is, we do provide the very…

But that is not who is going to decide. We are not going to make the decision that the person is going to be given or not given civilian interrogation. That decision is going to be made by a President who sets the procedures for…

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on November 17, 2011, at 10 a.m., in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so…

That is exactly what we provide in this amendment. That is the question Senator McCain just asked: If this administration or any administration decides that they want to provide the civilians with opportunity to interrogate, for whatever…