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View Full Version : Dems lose bid for rare secret session


Regis Philbin
Sep 26th, 2006, 06:29 PM
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/09/26/D8KCML182.html


Dems Lose Vote for Closed House Session

Sep 26 1:59 PM US/Eastern

By KATHERINE SHRADER
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON

Democrats failed Tuesday to push the House into an unusual secret session to discuss a classified intelligence analysis on global terrorism that says the Iraq war is nourishing a new generation of extremist operatives.

The proposal from House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was denied by a vote of 171-217. Such a session hasn't happened in the House since July 1983, when the chamber went into a closed session to discuss the United States' support for paramilitary operations in Nicaragua.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Pelosi said the secret session was needed to allow members to better understand the intelligence community's most recent assessment on global terrorism, some of which leaked to the news media over the weekend.

According to media reports, the intelligence estimate "is the administration's worst nightmare. It is not a corroboration of what the president is saying. It is a contradiction of what the president is saying," she said.

Pelosi's move followed President Bush's announcement that he will declassify the key findings of the intelligence assessment, which he and his top advisers have portrayed as a broad look at trends in terrorism rather than focusing on the impact of Iraq on U.S. national security.

But several Democrats, including Pelosi, immediately said that wasn't enough and wanted to see the entire report reviewed for potential declassification.