Bill Lee: “I appreciate the efforts made by my friend and distinguished colleague, the Senator from South Carolina. I wish to speak…”

“I appreciate the efforts made by my friend and distinguished colleague, the Senator from South Carolina. I wish to speak concerning the purpose for my making this request. I do so with great respect for this body, for its customs, its traditions, its rules, and for each of its Members. At the same time, it is imperative that we point out what is happening. We have a bill--one of the most consequential pieces of legislation we vote on each year--the National Defense Authorization Act. We have been effectively shut out of a meaningful amendment process, one that has historically marked this body as one of its distinguishing characteristics; one that has historically helped this body to refer to itself as the world's greatest deliberative legislative body. We have tested that in recent months and years as Members have started objecting with increasing frequency to anyone getting a vote on any amendment they don't like, that they object to. The amendment at issue is based on a bipartisan piece of legislation called the Due Process Guarantee Act. I am the lead sponsor, along with my lead cosponsor, the senior Senator from California, Mrs. Feinstein. The purpose of this amendment is simple. It is to make sure the U.S. Government has no authority and claims no authority to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens apprehended on U.S. soil.…”