Senators Hold Press Conf. on War Supplemental Funding Bill and Detainee Photos

By Courtney Ann Jackson- Talk Radio News Service

U.S. Senators John McCain (R-Ariz), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) held a press conference today to discuss the war supplemental and detainee photos.

Said Sen. Graham “to me, if Congress punts, we take a pass and we’re worried about this bill passing more than these photos not being released, we are letting a lot of people down who are counting on us.” Graham added that every photo is like a “bullet for our enemies,” and that President Obama must take some executive action on classifying the documents before the Supreme Court’s final decision is made. 

Lieberman agreed, and said that aside from passing the legislation, there is one “clear alternative” and that is for the President to release an executive order classifying the order.

Sen. McCain said the President should be publicly speaking out about this issue now. He thinks Obama is being “strangely quiet” about it. McCain said this issue should be taken seriously because it is a major security issue for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to Sen. Lieberman, none of his colleagues in the Senate as well as most House members oppose publicly releasing the photos.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would not be able to pass the supplemental war funding bill without the support of some of the Democrats.

Sen. Lieberman said opposition to bills happens all the time but in this case, it can’t be taken lightly. He said it is a matter of life and death for our soldiers. Lieberman said he did call the White House and warned that the President’s authority is being challenge by the small group of members in the House blocking this bill.