GOP: WH 'overstepped their bounds'
Posted: Monday, April 20, 2009 4:59 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
White House, Congress, Republicans
From NBC’s Ken Strickland and Domenico Montanaro
Senate Republican Saxby Chambliss, a member of the Intelligence and Armed Services committees, today said in the effort to embarrass former President Bush, the Obama administration "overstepped their bounds" in releasing interrogation memos last week.
"It seems that this administration looks for every opportunity they can to seek to embarrass the previous administration,” Chambliss said at a news conference. “And I think this is one time they really overstepped their bounds."
Citing the fact that there hasn't been a terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, Chambliss added, "Whatever the previous administration did, under the guise of the legal opinions that the Justice Department issued, it's worked. And the American people have a great appreciation for that."
He added, "There are some things that when you operate in the cloak-and-dagger world of the intelligence community that need to remain in the intelligence community."
At the same news conference, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell suggested President Obama's visit to the CIA today was about damage control.
"My guess is that's a moral-boosting visit, because they agency had to be -- you would think -- upset and chagrinned about the decision Sen. Chambliss was just addressing."
McConnell also hit Obama on his call for cabinet agencies to cut $100 million from their budgets.
$100 million is "what we spent per day in interest on the stimulus package," McConnell said.
McConnell, Chambliss and Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso held the news conference to discuss their congressional delegation trip over the holiday recess to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The senators said the situation in Iraq has improved, but Afghanistan is a different story.
While McConnell praised the Obama administration’s approach, he said it is “hardly distinguishable from the prior administration.”
Chambliss, who has been to Iraq seven times, said this is the most improved he’s seen it. In fact, the delegation was allowed to travel from Baghdad to a nearby town – something not previously allowed.
But despite the improvement, Chambliss took a swipe at the administration, saying there was “significant concern” raised by members of the military about the set dates for withdrawing troops.
He added that the U.S. will be in Afghanistan “for a long time to come” and that there’s not going to be a “military solution” there but a “political” one.
Barrasso said the delegation met with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai as well as three opposition leaders. He said the senators urged a need for “free,” “fair,” and “credible” elections there.
The nomination of Christopher Hill to be ambassador to Iraq has been opposed by some Republicans, particularly Sen. John McCain, who argues Hill doesn’t have the requisite Middle East expertise. McConnell said he hadn’t decided how he would vote on the Hill nomination; Chambliss said he would vote for cloture.
He didn’t say explicitly how he’d vote, though he did say the U.S. needs an ambassador to Iraq “quickly.”
