US Senate Archieves

not a good link

I became concerned that I don't know the source of the Barbra Boxer comments on the John Mark Renolds site. Especialy the "(From a secret source following the hearings.)" comment, This link provides comments of record.

"The Senator from California.
Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I compliment my colleagues on both sides
of the aisle for a very good and thoughtful debate today on this
particular nominee.
I come to the Senate today to report and inform my colleagues on the
Secretary of State confirmation hearings held in the Foreign Relations
Committee last week."


" By now, everyone knows I posed some very direct questions to Dr. Rice
about her statements leading up to the Iraqi war and beyond. As
National Security Adviser, Dr. Rice gave confidential advice to the
President regarding the war in Iraq. She also made the case for the war
in Iraq to the American people through hours of television appearances
and commentary."



" My questions, every one of them, revolved around her own words. As a
result of my questions and comments at the hearing, I have been hailed
as both a hero and a petty person. I have been called both courageous
and partisan. I have been very surprised at this response. Tens of
thousands of people signed a petition asking me to hold Dr. Rice
accountable for her past statements.
The reason I am so surprised at this reaction is that I believe I am
doing my job. It is as simple at that. I am on the Foreign Relations
Committee. This is a very high profile nominee. This is a Secretary of
State nomination in a time of war. My constituents want me to be
thorough. They want me to exercise the appropriate role of a Senator.
Let's look for a moment at what that role is, how it was defined by
our Founding Fathers. Article II, section 2, clause 2, of the
Constitution, which I have sworn to uphold, says the President:

shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the
Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and
Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all
other officers of the United States, whose appointments are
not herein otherwise provided for.

The Cabinet is covered in Article II, section 2, clause 2, of the
U.S. Constitution.
Now, if you read this, it does not say anywhere in here that the
President shall nominate and the Senate shall confirm. It says the
President ``shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of
the Senate'' shall make the appointments."

" It also doesn't say anywhere in the Constitution that the only reason
for a Senator to vote no on a Presidential nominee is because of some
personal or legal impediment of that nominee. It leaves the door open.
Senators have to ponder each and every one of these nominations. It is
very rare that I step forward to oppose one. I have opposed just a
couple. I have approved hundreds.

"
This is a continuation of the Juditial Appointments arguments. Boxer is very partisan and Should be the target of political retrobution. The senate should take full responsibility for the Iraq war. They passed the resolutions. If they think they were lied too, they have a resonsibility to know independent of what they have been told by the Executive branch.

The Barbra Boxer from the John Mark Renolds is clearly a dim bulb. From reading her testimony you get that flavor also.

"Mrs. BOXER. Here is the thing. Dr. Rice told the American people that
there were strong ties between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Osama bin
Laden and al-Qaida. These are her words:

We clearly know that there were in the past and have been
contacts between senior Iraqi officials and members of al-
Qaeda going back for actually quite a long time.
And there are some al-Qaeda personnel who found refuge in
Baghdad.

Now, I want to show a map that the State Department put out, and it
was accompanied by a letter from President Bush, a month after 9/11.
Here is the map. The red indicates where there are al-Qaida cells.
Unfortunately, we notice the United States is red. That is why we have
to win this war. This is the list where al-Qaida or affiliated groups
have operated, and this is a month after 9/11, put out by this
administration. No Iraq. So how do you then go on television, look the
American people in the eye, and tell them that in fact--and I will go
back to her quote again:"

Maybe the problem is that the terrorist groups are not considered operating when in a sponsering country. The maps of comunist groups don't include red china or the USSR,