Senate Approves $662b Defense Bill

Source: Boston Globe, December 2, 2011, Pg. 15, By Donna Cassata, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Ignoring a presidential veto threat, the Democratic-controlled Senate last night overwhelmingly approved a massive $662 billion defense bill that would require the military, not police, to hold suspected terrorists linked to Al Qaeda or its affiliates, even those captured on US soil.

The vote was 93-7 for the bill authorizing money for military personnel, weapons systems, national security programs in the Energy Department, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Reflecting a period of austerity and a winding down of decade-old conflicts, the bill is $27 billion less than what President Obama requested and $43 billion less than what Congress gave the Pentagon this year.

Shortly before final passage, the Senate unanimously backed crippling sanctions on Iran as fears about Tehran developing a nuclear weapon outweighed concerns about driving up oil prices that would hit economically strapped Americans at the gas pump. The vote was 100-0.

The Senate's version of the defense bill still must be reconciled with the House-passed measure in the final weeks of the congressional session.

In an escalating fight with the White House, the bill would expand the role of the military in handling terror suspects. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and FBI Director Robert Mueller both oppose the provisions because they say it would limit investigations and surveillance by such domestic agencies as the FBI.

The White House said it cannot accept any legislation that ``challenges or constrains the president's authorities to collect intelligence, incapacitate dangerous terrorists, and protect the nation.''

The bill would require military custody of a suspect deemed to be a member of Al Qaeda or its affiliates and involved in plotting or committing attacks on the United States. American citizens would be exempt. The bill does allow the executive branch to waive the authority based on national security and hold a suspect in civilian custody.

The legislation also would give the government the authority to have the military hold an individual suspected of terrorism indefinitely, without a trial. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, had sought an exception to the provision for US citizens. Lengthy negotiations produced a face-saving move that the Senate backed 99-1, a measure that said nothing in the bill changes current law relating to the detention of US citizens and legal aliens.

Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a Michigan Democrat, repeatedly pointed out that the June 2004 Supreme Court decision in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld said US citizens can be detained indefinitely.

The series of detention provisions tests the boundaries of executive and legislative branch authority and sets up a showdown with the Democratic commander in chief. Civil rights groups fiercely oppose the bill.

The bill reflects the politically charged dispute over whether to treat suspected terrorists as prisoners of war or criminals. The administration insists that the military, law enforcement, and intelligence agents need flexibility in prosecuting the war on terror after they have succeeded in killing Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki.

Republicans counter that their efforts are necessary to respond to an evolving, post-Sept. 11 threat, and that Obama has failed to produce a consistent policy on handling terror suspects.