Political Quotes

“It is unfortunate that we cannot at this point come to a bipartisan agreement on something even, it seems to me, as straightforward as this. To my friend from Michigan I would say a couple of things. One, this resolution does not prejudge the investigation. The resolution--and I have it in front of me now--does not talk about the President's article II powers. It very clearly says that transfer of these detainees violated the National Defense Authorization Act--legislation that you brought to the floor--and the appropriations bill. That is what it says. So that is clear by the very language in those bills, that it does violate those bills. It doesn't talk about the constitutional authorities the President may have. It does say that it violates the terms of this legislation. It does not prejudge the investigation, which is in the why, the investigation as to why it happened, with, again, the intent of trying to keep this from happening again. I do think the President could have used some reasoned judgment from some people who have been around a while, maybe even Senator Levin, who has some strong views on these national security matters and was involved earlier in the hearings that I was in where, under oath, the administration official talked about how dangerous these very men were. Second, Senator Levin correctly says the President cannot change the law, and that is all we are saying. He cannot change the law with a signing statement.…”