Senate OKs Controversial Detainee Provision, Setting Up Fight With White House

By Yochi J. Dreazen
nationaljournal.com/
November 29, 2011 | 3:30 p.m.

The Senate soundly defeated a move to strip out controversial language requiring mandatory detention of some terror suspects, voting it down 61 to 37 and escalating a fight with the Obama administration over the future course of the war on terror.

The proposed amendment to the massive National Defense Authorization Act would require the FBI and other civilian law enforcement agencies to transfer al-Qaida suspects arrested overseas on charges of planning or carrying out a terror attack into military custody. It wouldn’t apply to American citizens, but the change has drawn strong opposition from civil rights groups and the White House, which has promised to veto the defense bill if that language was included.

Occupy Lansing Protests at Senator Levin's Office
wlns.com

The Occupy Lansing movement shows no signs of winding-down. Monday they marched to the Lansing office of U.S. Senator Carl Levin to protest the national defense authorization act bill.

The Senate will be voting to allow Congress to give the president the power to order the military to pick up and imprison civilians anywhere in the world without charge or trial.

"This bill has a provision in it that would allow the U.S. government to detain on U.S. soil U.S. citizens for an indefinite amount of time without trial or cause. This is really frightening to us, it directly contradicts our constitutional rights and Occupy Lansing is stepping out to say this is not ok," said Edge Brussel, Occupy Lansing.

The protestors delivered a petition signed by occupiers in opposition to the bill.

http://occupylansing.us/