Arlen Specter: “No. It means what it says. I can't yield having only 2 minutes, but I would be glad to hear the Senator afterwards. It…”

“No. It means what it says. I can't yield having only 2 minutes, but I would be glad to hear the Senator afterwards. It means what it says--the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction. The great difficulty with the Graham-Levin amendment is that it was worked out yesterday--sort of an affront to the Judiciary Committee, if I may say so--that there is no time for the Judiciary Committee to have a hearing on the matter to consider it. We are dealing with very fundamental rights, habeas corpus. Another provision of the Graham-Levin amendment says there shall be no habeas corpus jurisdiction. There have been repeated efforts in the history of our country to take away the jurisdiction of the courts. Court stripping was a big issue in the confirmation process of Chief Justice Roberts. He ran from it like the plague. He had an early memo. He didn't want to be associated with it. These are weighty and momentous considerations that go far beyond the detainees at Guantanamo. And we ought not to be deciding these questions on an amendment, which was agreed to yesterday between Senator Graham and Senator Levin, and no one has had a chance to study or analyze--most of all the authors--which on the face takes away jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States. It is untenable and unthinkable and ought to be rejected.”