Thursday, June 16, 2005

7:11 Ambassadorial Nominations Confirmed Following Senator Robert C. Byrd's annual tribute to fathers in honor of Fathers' Day, the Senate wrapped up the day with confirming a number of ambassadorial nominations, including the nomination of Rodolphe "Skip" Vallee of Vermont to be Ambassador to the Slovak Republic. 7:12:08 PM

6:15 Senators Warner and Durbin on Guantanamo Bay The Senate defeated the Cantwell amendment with a vote of 47-53 and adopted the Bingaman amendment 52-48.  Afternoon debate in the Senate strayed at times from the Energy bill, but some members did come and make statements about the legislation.  Senator Frist announced that the next vote would not occur until Monday, a cloture vote on the nomination of John Bolton to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Currently on the floor Senators Warner and Durbin are engaged in a debate over Senator Durbin's recent comments regarding the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.  Senator Durbin yesterday read from an FBI memo on Guantanamo Bay that detailed interrogation techniques being used at the prison.  He said that in reading the memo, if he had not made clear that it was written by the FBI that one might expect the memo was describing actions of the Nazis, Pol Pot or events in a Soviet gulag.  Senator Warner has challenged Senator Durbin's association, and said that Senator Durbin should apologize to the men and women of the uniformed services.  6:16:02 PM

2:28 Votes on the Cantwell and Bingaman Amendments Debate on the Bingaman and Cantwell amendments is wrapping up as the Senate prepares to vote at 2:30.  Senator Cantwell made a final appeal for support of her amendment that would bring down the U.S. reliance on petroleum imports by the year 2025.  She noted that currently the U.S. imports 58 percent of the petroleum supply and that her amendment would bring that down by 2 percent by 2025.  At 2:30 the Senate will vote on the Cantwell amdendment and at the conclusion of the first vote, move to a vote on the Bingaman amendment. 2:29:02 PM

12:15 Debate on the Bingaman Amendment The Senate has spent the morning debating an amendment by Senator Bingaman that would require that ten percent of the country's energy portfolio be made up of renewable energies by the year 2020.  Senator Domenici and Senator Alexander has led the opposition to this amendment, calling the goal of the amendment a mandate that would increase taxes by billions of dollars.  Senator Clinton spoke briefly on the amendment after she added herself as a cosponsor of the amendment.  She praised Senator Bingaman's effort and said that she believed that this is a laudable goal, and that we need to take steps now to increasing the renewable energy supply.  12:16:01 PM

9:30 Senate Reconvenes The Senate will reconvene this morning at 9:30 to resume consideration of H.R. 6, the Energy bill.  Pending to the Energy bill is an amendment proposed by Senator Cantwell regarding petroleum imports.  9:30:04 AM