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The Senate’s defense authorization bill remained stalled on Wednesday night as senators adjourned for the day, unable to reach an agreement to allow highly anticipated votes on a pair of amendments dealing with sexual assault in the military.

The sticking point: the total number of amendments to be considered as part of the debate over the annual defense policy bill.

Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was trying to get his GOP colleagues to agree to allow just 50 total amendments, 25 from each side of the aisle. Senate Republican leaders, he said, had been demanding 100 total amendments.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the Senate would resume consideration of the bill on Thursday, despite the impasse.

His announcement came after Republicans once again blocked his attempt to schedule votes on the two controversial amendments.

Inhofe objected, saying he wouldn’t allow Reid to schedule votes on just those two amendments. He was flanked by his fellow Oklahoma Republican, Sen. Tom Coburn, who said senators could get through all the relevant amendments in “five or seven” days.

Reid countered that 350 amendments had been filed on the massive defense bill and that there was no way to get through them all before the Thanksgiving recess.

Also speaking on the floor, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin urged his Republican colleagues to stop blocking progress on the bill, saying it was at risk of not being passed for the first time in more than half a century.

“If we don’t finish this bill this week, there cannot be a conference report,” the Michigan Democrat said. “Then, for the first time in 52 years, we will not have a defense bill, absent some miracle.”

The Senate’s latest impasse follows months of nationwide debate on how Congress should reform the way the Pentagon handles military sexual assaults. Senators debated the dueling amendments on the issue for most of the day Wednesday.

One, sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), would authorize military lawyers — not commanders — to decide whether to prosecute allegations of sexual assault and other major crimes in the ranks. It’s opposed by top Pentagon leaders, who argue commanders must remain a part of the process.

The other, sponsored by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), would set new rules for how military sexual assault victims and defendants should be treated, offering a number of reforms but maintaining the current command structure. http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/republicans-senate-stall-defense
-bill-again-military-sexual-assault-amendment-pentagon-100160.html

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Originally posted by Niki2:

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The Senate’s defense authorization bill remained stalled on Wednesday night as senators adjourned for the day, unable to reach an agreement to allow highly anticipated votes on a pair of amendments dealing with sexual assault in the military.

The sticking point: the total number of amendments to be considered as part of the debate over the annual defense policy bill.

Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was trying to get his GOP colleagues to agree to allow just 50 total amendments, 25 from each side of the aisle. Senate Republican leaders, he said, had been demanding 100 total amendments.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the Senate would resume consideration of the bill on Thursday, despite the impasse.

His announcement came after Republicans once again blocked his attempt to schedule votes on the two controversial amendments.

Inhofe objected, saying he wouldn’t allow Reid to schedule votes on just those two amendments. He was flanked by his fellow Oklahoma Republican, Sen. Tom Coburn, who said senators could get through all the relevant amendments in “five or seven” days.

Reid countered that 350 amendments had been filed on the massive defense bill and that there was no way to get through them all before the Thanksgiving recess.

Also speaking on the floor, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin urged his Republican colleagues to stop blocking progress on the bill, saying it was at risk of not being passed for the first time in more than half a century.

“If we don’t finish this bill this week, there cannot be a conference report,” the Michigan Democrat said. “Then, for the first time in 52 years, we will not have a defense bill, absent some miracle.”

The Senate’s latest impasse follows months of nationwide debate on how Congress should reform the way the Pentagon handles military sexual assaults. Senators debated the dueling amendments on the issue for most of the day Wednesday.

One, sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), would authorize military lawyers — not commanders — to decide whether to prosecute allegations of sexual assault and other major crimes in the ranks. It’s opposed by top Pentagon leaders, who argue commanders must remain a part of the process.

The other, sponsored by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), would set new rules for how military sexual assault victims and defendants should be treated, offering a number of reforms but maintaining the current command structure. http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/republicans-senate-stall-defense
-bill-again-military-sexual-assault-amendment-pentagon-100160.html

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Your friend has a message :

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Originally posted by ElvisChrist:

Or could it be that you're just a racist cunt?

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