FORTHCOMING NEWS RELEASE:
SENATE REPUBLICANS HOLD A MEDIA AVAILABILITY ON IRAQ WAR INTELLIGENCE
NOVEMBER 1, 2005
SPEAKERS: U.S. SENATOR BILL FRIST (R-TN),
SENATE MAJORITY LEADER
U.S. SENATOR TRENT LOTT (R-MS)
U.S. SENATOR JON KYL (R-AZ)
U.S. SENATOR RICK SANTORUM (R-PA)
FRIST: About 10 minutes ago or so, the United States Senate has been hijacked by the Democratic leadership. I say that because with absolutely no warning at the leadership level, no warning whatsoever, some time after 2 o’clock today, the Democratic leader appropriately took the floor — took control of the floor of the United States Senate and put us in, according with the Senate rules, a private session, which is not a public session — and we’ll describe that in a little more detail — which at least in recent history is unprecedented.
Once again, it shows the Democrats use scare tactics. They have not conviction. They have no principles. They have no ideas. But this is the ultimate. Since I’ve been majority leader, I’ll have to say, not with the previous Democratic leader or the current Democratic leader have ever I been slapped in the face with such an affront to the leadership of this grand institution.
Every other time — and again, we’ll have to go back and look at the history — there has been at least consideration for the other side of the aisle before a stunt — and this is a pure stunt that is being performed by Senator Reid, Senator Durbin and their leadership.
Yes, we’ve gone into closed session before but we have always — and again, we’ll go back and look at history — I can tell you under the current majority leader and under the former majority leader that always, if we’ve gone into a closed session, which pushes you out, which pushes the American people out, where cameras come off, here our microphones are turned off — every time in recent history it has been with mutual conversation between the majority leader and the Democratic leader, between the majority leadership and the democratic leadership.
