Jay Rockefeller: “I come to the floor to wholly support the comments of my colleagues, the Senator from California and the Senator from…”

“I come to the floor to wholly support the comments of my colleagues, the Senator from California and the Senator from Arizona, to speak about a matter of great importance to me personally but more importantly to the country. The Senate Intelligence Committee's entire study of the CIA's detention and interrogation program--I will just call it the program-- is the most in-depth, the most substantive oversight initiative the committee has ever taken. I doubt any committee has done more than this. It presents extremely valuable insights into crucial oversight questions and problems that need to be addressed by the CIA. Moreover, this study exemplifies why this committee was created in the first place following the findings of the Church Committee nearly 40 years ago, and I commend my friend and the committee's leader, the Senator from California, for shepherding this landmark initiative to this point. For years, often behind closed doors, without any recognition, she has been a strong and tireless advocate, and she deserves our thanks and recognition. It is my hope and expectation that beyond the initial release of the executive summary and findings and conclusions, that the entire 6,800 pages, with 37,500 footnotes, will eventually be made public--and I am sure it will--with the appropriate redactions.…”