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Hillary Clinton On Michael Brown, Eric Garner: Criminal Justice System "Out Of Balance"

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“And I personally hope that these tragedies give us the opportunity to come together as a nation to find our balance again.”

Brendan Mcdermid / Reuters

Hillary Clinton says she is pleased the Justice Department is investigating the events surrounding the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, and criticized the current state of America's criminal justice system.

"Now more broadly, each of us has to grapple with some hard truths about race and justice in America. Because despite all the progress we've made together, African Americans, most particularly African-American men, are still more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes, and sentenced to longer prison terms," Clinton said Thursday at the Massachusetts Conference for Women in Boston. "And when one stops and realizes a third of all black men face the prospect of prison during their lifetimes, what devastating consequences that has for their families and their communities and all of us."

"The United States has less than 5% of the world's population, yet we have almost 25% of the world's total prison population. Now, that is not because Americans are more violent or criminal than others around the world; in fact that is far from the facts," Clinton said. "But it is because we have allowed our criminal justice system to get out of balance. And I personally hope that these tragedies give us the opportunity to come together as a nation to find our balance again."

The former secretary of state also said she supports President Obama's proposed task force on policing, but that the issue runs deeper than elected officials.

"These tragedies did not happen in some faraway place. They didn't happen to some other people," she said. "These are our streets, our children, our fellow Americans, and our grief."

Ruby Cramer contributed reporting.


Republican Congressman Says House Might Censure President Obama

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“We’re gonna try everything in our power — we’re gonna go forwards, really, on all fronts, whether it be a vote to defund, whether it be a lawsuit, might even get into censureship.”

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Republican Rep. Lamar Smith said Thursday that censuring President Obama over his immigration executive orders is an option the House needs to consider.

Speaking with local radio, the Texas lawmaker said most of his House colleagues are in support of defunding the president's executive actions to delay the deportation of undocumented immigrants.

"That is, I, I'd say that a majority of the members of the House, most of my colleagues, want to defund anything to do with the president's executive orders that gave amnesty to 5 million people in the country illegally," said Smith. "We're gonna try everything in our power — we're gonna go forwards, really, on all fronts, whether it be a vote to defund, whether it be a lawsuit, might even get into censureship. These are all options that we need to consider. It's important that this is just the beginning, this is not the end."

8 Hilarious Photos Of Obama Being Delightfully Dorky With Santa Claus

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President Obama danced with Santa Claus Thursday night at the National Christmas Tree Lighting. Here are the best photos.

Yuri Gripas / Reuters

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Paul Morigi / WireImage

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais


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Key Republican Congressmen Call On Labor Department To Withdraw New LGBT Protections

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“Public comment is essential to all rulemakings,” the head of the House Education and Workforce Committee and a key subcommittee chair wrote this week.

Chair John Kline

Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Two key House Republicans on employment issues have asked the Labor Department to withdraw its new rule protecting LGBT employees of federal contractors from discrimination.

House Education and Workforce Committee Chair John Kline, a Republican from Minnesota, and Rep. Tim Walberg, the Republican chair of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, made the request for a 60-day public comment period for the rule in a letter to the head of the office responsible for enforcing it.

"[W]e understand the public was not afforded an opportunity to submit comments as provided under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA)," Kline and Walberg wrote to Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Director Patricia Shiu. "Public comment is essential to all rulemakings."

The rule, published in the Federal Register on Friday, was posted online on Wednesday, the day Kline and Walberg sent the letter. The rule was issued pursuant to an executive order issued by President Obama this summer. The order, which had been a goal for LGBT advocates since Obama's election, amends an order signed by President Lyndon Johnson barring federal contractors from discriminating on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

After laying out their argument, they write, "We therefore urge OFCCP to withdraw its final regulation submitted to [Office of Management and Budget] ... so the process for implementing [Obama's executive order] can be done with the transparency and public participation typically afforded under the APA." They ask for a response from Shiu "no later than December 17, 2014."

One prominent LGBT advocate expressed anger at the move from Kline and Walberg.

"Kline represents a moderate district where majorities of voters support LGBT workplace protections, so this is clearly an example of Kline pandering to the extremist element of the Republican base," Tico Almeida of Freedom to Work told BuzzFeed News. Almeida previously worked for Rep. George Miller, the former chair of the committee Kline now leads.

A Labor Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the letter.

Read the letter:

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Mary Landrieu, One Of The Last Southern Democrats, Is Defeated

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Rep. Bill Cassidy’s victory is the ninth Republican pickup in the Senate, giving them a 54 seat majority.

Lee Celano / Reuters

Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu was handily defeated by Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy in a Saturday runoff, ending her three term career and widening the Republican majority in the Senate.

Landrieu's fate became clearer in the weeks following the November 4th primary. Many national Democratic organizations withdrew financial support for the campaign, and she failed to pass a bill to green-light the Keystone XL pipeline after an aggressive push in the lame duck session.

Landrieu was the last Democrat who represented a Deep South state.

Cassidy's victory marks the ninth Republican pickup in the Senate this election cycle, bringing their total majority to 54 senators when the new Congress convenes next year.

Mexico Has Brutally Choked Off The Flow Of Undocumented Immigrants Into The U.S.

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TENOSIQUE, Mexico — For migrants at the Casa de Migrante, there’s not much to do but wait.

Men and women lean against the chapel wall, trying to stay in the shade it provides. A group of younger immigrants plays a pickup game of soccer. More still nap in the doorways of the shelter’s dormitories.

Once a pit stop on the long, dangerous trail north to the U.S. border, Tenosique has become ground zero for a remarkably successful push to cut off the flow of undocumented immigrants into the United States.

In the wake of more than 70,000 minors crossing the U.S. border, a Mexican government initiative launched in July has attacked existing immigrant routes, in particular along the southern border of Mexico, and ruthlessly choked off the flow of people.

As a result, tens of thousands of migrants have found themselves caught along that southern border. It’s impossible to travel through the border states of Tabasco, Chiapas, and Veracruz and not see them everywhere: walking single file down jungle roads, selling foreign foods like pupusas from crude street carts, begging outside churches — and increasingly filing local jail cells for petty crimes.

It’s a looming humanitarian crisis, activists warn, that could rock Mexico’s southeast region and send the extremely poor border states already plagued by cartel violence and endemic corruption into chaos.

“This is just a ticking time bomb,” said Fray Tomas, a Franciscan friar who along with Fray Aurelio runs the shelter in Tenosique. “We are filling up the southeast with tons of people, crime, corrupt authorities. This will explode.”

John Stanton / BuzzFeed

When President Obama and congressional Democrats named overhauling U.S. immigration law in the wake of the 2012 election as their top priority, a new reality had already begun along the U.S.–Mexico border.

Thousands of children, most unaccompanied by a parent or adult relative, started showing up. The minors weren’t from Mexico — most came from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, where dismal economies have met increasing gang violence.

The situation reached crisis level this spring, just as Obama came under intense pressure from activists to slow the deportations of undocumented immigrants already in the United States. The arrival of thousands of children complicated those efforts, politically. But it also posed a logistical nightmare for the administration.

The administration put hard pressure on governments to the south to get control of the situation in Central America and bring the flood to a halt.

For its part, the White House launched an aggressive propaganda campaign of billboards, radio and television ads, and even pop songs to warn of the dangers of the trip — and stress immigrants will be deported when they’re caught.

The result of that multimillion-dollar effort: so far, very little.

While a number of migrants told BuzzFeed News they were too afraid make the treacherous journey to the United States, most of those who saw the ads and heard the songs said they didn’t play any part in their decision making.

Others seemed to be approaching the campaign as more of a public service announcement than a warning. Oscar, a 27-year-old Honduran, said he found the advertising campaign helpful in planning his trip north.

“I believe it,” he said of the warnings, explaining they are useful to “just keep in mind all of the dangers. The people are more dangerous than the snakes.”

The real, significant crackdown came in Mexico.

The government of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto launched “Plan Frontera Sur” on July 7, stemming in part from talks with the United States and Central American countries.

For decades, Mexico’s southern border has been extremely porous. According to government sources, while there are 11 “official” crossing points, immigrants have established at least 370 “informal crossings.”

The government’s Plan Frontera Sur, is in many ways simple: Use the region’s geography and a series of skirmish lines to choke off human trafficking. Coordinated by the National Defense Secretariat, the first part of the plan includes “a first control line” along the physical border using troops and immigration officials to force migrants into the established official crossing sites.

The plan also established an “internal control line” ranging from 30 to 100 kilometers from the border to “prevent illegal access of people, weapons, drugs and contraband,” according to a government source. A third “contention line” has also been established at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico’s narrowest point, and uses the rugged terrain and stepped up patrolling by federal authorities to block access to the rest of the country.

Mexican officials have stepped up aerial surveillance of the border and have established a “culture of citizen watch” to allow Mexicans to anonymously report trafficking, the source said, while at the same time increasing patrols of La Bestia, the series of trains that thousands of immigrants have used to move through the country.

Migrants paint an increasingly brutal picture of how the plan is playing out on the ground along the border.

Oscar said that on his first attempt to ride La Bestia, the train was stopped deep in the jungle outside of Tenosique by immigration officials. “When the train stopped, everyone jumped. I tried to, but I couldn’t because there two federales with rifles. After they got me, they hit me … in the back and they knocked me to the ground and kicked me.”

Oscar’s friend saw him being beaten and rushed one of the immigration officials, knocking him to the ground and giving Oscar enough time to get to his feet and run. After hiding in the jungle for several hours, the two men eventually made their way to the shelter in Tenosique, where they could nurse their wounds and wait for their next chance to jump the train.

But Mexican officials are doing something else quietly, activists and migrants say.

They charge that Mexico has transformed a state-run humanitarian organization originally designed to help migrants into an arm of the immigration services.

Grupo Beta was established to provide food and medical assistance to migrants moving through the country to the United States. With facilities across the country along migratory routes, migrants have long become accustomed to seeking out the organization for help.

But since July, activists said that Grupo Beta workers in Tabasco and other border states have begun turning migrants into law enforcement. Several migrants in Tabasco said they had been targeted by law enforcement officials minutes after seeking out mobile Grupo Beta units providing food and water near the border.

“Now, it has collaborated in [immigration] operations. It helps with raid operations against migrants,” Fray Aurelio said, explaining, “At the beginning, they helped the house a lot with food, taking sick people placers. But suddenly they stopped [over the summer].”

John Stanton / BuzzFeed

The plan had an almost immediate impact.

The Department of Homeland Security in August announced that apprehensions of unaccompanied minors were cut in nearly half between June and July. Activists and immigrants also said it’s become much harder to cross into Mexico.

For instance, Casa Tochan, a shelter that works with Central American immigrants in Mexico City has the capacity to house up to 20 people each night. And while for most of its three-year existence it has been full, it's seen a marked drop-off in recent months.

“With the increasing security on the U.S. side as well as the Mexican side of things, definitely. And the danger with the gangs has also increased,” said Joseph Young, a Chicago-area native who is volunteering at the shelter.

“In the first couple of years of starting we were at capacity … but since the spring things have been less, like half capacity,” Young said, adding “It’s interesting now their goal is just to stay here … because of the dangers.”

Migrants also said immigration authorities in Mexico have become more aggressive in deporting Central Americans caught in the country’s interior. One Salvadoran in his late fifties, who declined to give his name, said he’s made six attempts to get to the United States this year — and only on his first in the spring did he make it, briefly, to the U.S.

But despite the repeated detentions and deportations, he remains committed, saying that he see reaching the U.S. as the only way to pay for cancer treatments for his wife. “I have no way to help her without work in the United States,” he said.

The increased tightening of control over known migratory routes has forced immigrants increasingly into more dangerous areas — areas where MS-13 and Mexican cartels have set up their own patrols, making the journey even more dangerous.

“The biggest challenge right now is to fight against organized crime,” Fray Aurelio said. Migrants said gangs will charge anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 per person — sums so high few can actually afford the bribes. Not having the money can result in kidnappings, rape, beatings, or even death for any migrant willing to risk the wrath of criminals.

According to migrants, even the mere 50 kilometers between the border and Tenosique has become treacherous territory with cartel men demanding money from anyone trying to cross.

“Kevin,” an affable Honduran busboy in a Tenosique restaurant, left home with his family after his brother-in-law was murdered by drug dealers for setting up a neighborhood watch program.

Making his way into Mexico was relatively easy, though they lost most of their money to bribes to corrupt Guatemalan soldiers and Mexican border officials. Once he and his family had crossed into Mexico, they attempted to take a bus north, hoping to make it to the United States.

Cartel coyotes told them that it would cost $5,000 per person to be taken to the border — but not crossed. Although Kevin has family in the U.S. and could get the money, he said, "We didn’t say that we had family up north, for fear that they would kidnap us or something like that. If you tell them, ‘Yes, my uncle works in Colorado’ or whatever, whatever, they kidnap you and then in Colorado extort [your uncle].”

Unable to use a coyote to move north, Kevin’s family tried to take a bus, which for years has been the easiest way for migrants heading to the United States to move through much of Mexico.

But the bus drivers refused them. “They just didn’t want to help. Because there’s also mafia there, and they expect [bribes],” Kevin said, as well as immigration officials who will also demand bribes from not only immigrants but also bus drivers.

Eventually an elderly man, seeing that the family had small children, took them to the shelter in Tenosique, where he and his family have decided to settle temporarily in hopes of getting asylum from the Mexican government.

“We didn’t know how dangerous it was until we got here and they told us,” Kevin said.

And for those who do take the risk of traveling north, cartel violence quickly stops being a potential problem to a real world crisis.

“It’s the gangs,” Young said. “They’re asking for more and more money. I think they’re asking for a thousand dollars passage. And so obviously with the majority of people not being able to pay that, they push them right off the train. Or they take all their things. We have two gentlemen [in the shelter] right now who are missing legs because they were pushed off the train. I think for most of them, the concern is the gangs.”

John Stanton / BuzzFeed

But while it’s become more difficult to move north through Mexico, immigrants are still finding ways into the country, which has forced the Franciscans to adapt their efforts.

The Casa de Migrante that Frays Tomas and Aurelio operate wasn’t supposed to become a home for immigrants.

When they started three years ago, the two Franciscans were responding to the growing problem of transients moving through the area. Tenosique is one of the first stops of La Bestia, and its proximity to the Guatemalan border makes the city a popular choice train hoppers. But the trains’ schedule can vary wildly, and immigrants can find themselves cooling their heels in town for several days before moving on.

So Tomas approached a wealthy landowner, secured property on the edge of town, close enough to the train tracks so that migrants could hear it approaching. The idea was to give migrants a safe place to spend a day or two and get some sleep and food while they waited for the train.

But the semi-permanent population at the shelter is steadily growing, Fray Aurelio said, “since the south border reform. Especially now that there’s been a decrease in the migratory flow, people are staying here. They don’t know what to do.”

“They can no longer hop on the train, because there are raids. If they take to the road, well, they run into organized crime, or they [run into] police,” he explained.

As a result, the priests have begun helping migrants apply for asylum in Mexico, a process that can be extremely difficult for applicants who often have little formal education.

On the run from MS-13, Edwin crossed into Mexico earlier this year. Like tens of thousands of other Salvadorans, he, his wife, and small son were looking for a new start, a place free from armed gangs — some of whom he counted as friends, neighbors and business acquaintances — and a collapsed economy.

So he found what he hoped would be at least sanctuary. But like other immigrants in Mexico, life has been hard. Shortly after arriving at the shelter in Tenosique, Edwin was arrested by immigration officers. Although he had decided the journey to the U.S. was too dangerous for his wife and child, he hadn’t yet filed asylum papers with the Mexican government. The friars at the shelter eventually contacted the El Salvadoran consulate, and Edwin was released.

Initially, Edwin was unemployed, a situation he’d never found himself in. “I’d never had to ask for anything, and now I had to beg for money,” Edwin said. The local population was often unsympathetic, he said, including one group of men who made “me sing the El Salvador hymn to prove I was a migrant” while they laughed.

Shortly after, Edwin took a job at a local restaurant where for 100 pesos a day — roughly $8 — he washes dishes, buses tables, and does prep work. The days are long — 12 hours or more.

Although Edwin moved his family out of the shelter and into an apartment he shared with another family, he’s since moved back, in large part because of the increasing danger of living as a migrant in Tenosique.

Those dangers came into sharp focus in mid October. His wife and child had come to visit him at work, and on the way back to their home, a man approached them. Although his wife didn’t know his name, she recognized him: like Edwin’s family, he was an immigrant, and she’d seen the Honduran man around the Casa de Migrante.

As she turned down a dark street, the man came at her, kicking her 18-month-old to the ground and attempting to pull her into the shadows. Panicked, his wife reached for a pair of scissors she had in her pocket.

“She took some scissors she had and stabbed him. He got her phone and money, but didn’t get her,” Edwin said.

Edwin’s just one of many, many people. Gilsa, a 23-year-old Honduran mother of two, works when she can cleaning houses and selling food on the streets of Tenosique. “I would like to go somewhere else, but ever since I left Honduras, I have been here.”

Although she and her husband applied for asylum in Mexico, they were denied earlier this year, and now find themselves in limbo. She was nearly arrested this year while accompanying a friar to deliver food. Asked what she will do in the future, Gilsa said, “I don’t know. I hope that I will get my papers. I don’t know when, but as soon as I have them I will decide to move out of Tenosique.”

Residents of the town, meanwhile, are increasingly concerned with the flood of immigrants and the criminal element that they often attract.

“There’s lots of people asking for money in the streets, stealing from people. It’s bad,” said Aaron Herrera, a 29-year-old factory worker from Tenosique.

John Stanton / BuzzFeed

Fray Aurelio and other activists say the situation facing Mexico along its southern border is not simply the responsibility of their government, but the United States, which has pressed Mexican officials to crack down on immigration.

“It’s not only the Mexican government; it’s [because of] the U.S. that they are stopping more of the humanitarian help … and putting more pressure on catching them, and wall and all that,” Fray Aurelio said.

Fray Tomas warned a confrontation is coming.

“What have we, defenders of human rights, done? We have done peaceful protests — students and other advocates have blocked highways, burned government palaces,” he said. “And when [activists] say that they will give them this amount of time to do this or that [and no changes happen], what else can they do?”

The New Obama Administration Defense Of Police Militarization: The Boston Bombing

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As changes to military-equipment programs stall out in D.C., administration officials are citing the 2013 terrorist attack. The complex case of the Boston Marathon response.

A member of the SWAT team motions to a resident during the April, 2013 search for Dzhokar Tsarnaev in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Jessica Rinaldi / Reuters

WASHINGTON — When Obama administration officials are asked why the administration hasn't sought to stop the military from sending combat gear to local police forces, they have a ready answer: the Boston Marathon bombing.

The April 15, 2013 bombing has been cited at least twice by top administration officials defending the programs that have drawn bipartisan criticism after heavily-armed police engaged unarmed protesters in Ferguson, Missouri. The manhunt that followed the terrorist attack, which killed three and injured hundreds, featured a massive law enforcement presence — and military-style equipment.

But at least one argument floated by administration officials — that military gear was critical in locating one of the two suspects, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev — raises questions about the purpose and effectiveness of military equipment.

The invocation of Boston comes after the collapse of legislative efforts to change federal programs that provide the equipment. Though President Obama has voiced skepticism about police using combat gear and has vowed new efforts to track how military hardware is used by police, the White House never signed on to efforts to end the programs. The administration continues to say they are a good idea, at least in theory, and that military hardware can be a valuable tool for local police.

The post-bombing images of Boston locked down by police-marked military vehicles and a coordinated federal-state response provide a best case scenario for proponents of federal programs that help cops by military hardware. What was so jarring in the streets of Ferguson in August — military-style armored vehicles rolling down urban streets with armored police officers poking out of them carrying heavy weaponry — was a source of comfort in the desperate hours after the Marathon bombings when the suspects were still at large. Critics of militarization say the practical application of military hardware by local police mostly mimics the Ferguson situation, with military-armed SWAT-style officers moving against largely minority populations.

Administration officials and Boston police credit hardware provided through federal grant programs for creating the conditions for a rapid, well-coordinated response to the bombings and treatment of the victims. At the same time, critics of the programs point out that at times has exaggerated the how helpful military technology was in Boston when it came to tracking down and capturing the bombers. This, essentially, is the roiling debate over police militarization in a nutshell: supporters say police need combat gear to do their jobs effectively, critics say that claim is made with little evidence to back it up. Traces of both arguments can be found in the administration's repeated citing of Boston in the militarization debate.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest referred to the marathon bombing when asked why the administration has not signed on with critics who want to end militarization programs.

"There are certain situations in which these kinds of programs have been useful and contributed significantly to public safety," Earnest said at a press briefing last Monday. "The best I think and probably most high-profile example that comes to mind is the use by the Boston Police Department of some military equipment in their response to the Boston bombing. That was equipment that was properly used and was done in a way that would both protect the community but also protect the law enforcement officers that were responding to the situation."

In Congressional testimony, federal and Boston officials have praised the programs that provide them with millions of dollars to buy military equipment, saying the armored vehicles helped created a feeling of security for police officers.

But a top Department of Homeland Security official also claimed that the military gear was the source of the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's capture, in testimony at a September Senate hearing on militarization programs after the August protests in Ferguson. Brian Kamoie, the official at FEMA (a part of DHS) in charge of grant programs that help local cops buy military-style gear, defended the program by citing the use of a helicopter-mounted infrared sensor in Boston.

"Much of that equipment directly contributed to the apprehension of the surviving bombing suspect," Kamoie told a Senate Homeland Security subcommitee in his prepared opening statement on Sept. 9. "During the pursuit, Massachusetts State Police used a Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) camera purchased with preparedness grant funds to search for, locate, and apprehend Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Further, the FLIR's ability to locate the suspect from a safe distance reduced the direct risk to law enforcement officers."

At the hearing, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn — one of the opponents of militarization in the Senate — pointed out a significant flaw in that story.

"[Dzhokhar] Tsarnaev was found because a guy went out to check his boat because he saw the end of it up," Coburn said. "It didn't have anything to do with money that we spent, it didn't have anything to do with anything other than he noticed it, and he was surprised by the fact that he found this guy in fetal position in his boat and called 911."

Coburn, who is retiring at the end of this month's lame duck session, entered into the record a Boston Globe article into to back up his version of events. Kamoie "seemed surprised," according to a New York Times writeup of the hearing.

"I look forward to reading that article," he told Coburn.

The Globe's reporting at the time pretty clearly backs up Coburn. The article he cited at the September hearing — published on Oct. 13, 2013 and headlined "Boat owner seeks to clarify record on Tsarnaev capture" — describes in great detail how Watertown, Massachusetts resident David Henneberry left his house after authorities lifted a curfew during the four-day manhunt for Tsarnaev, checked on a loose cover on his boat, parked on a trailer on his yard, and spotted Tsarnaev.

A Globe investigation into the Tsarnaev manhunt published in March of this year — an excerpt from a book on the bombing by two Globe reporters — describes how armored and heavily-armed police officers were everywhere. At one point, a military-style armored Bearcat vehicle was used in an attempt to tip over the boat the bombing suspect was hiding in. (The attempt failed.) The reporting also cites Henneberry as the source of Tsarnaev's capture.

The Obama administration stands by the centrality of the infrared camera, despite the Globe reporting.

"Following up on the tip from a home/boat owner, the Massachusetts state police used the FLIR system to see the heat signature of suspect #2 and detect movement as he hid beneath a tarp on a boat. This allowed police — from a safe distance — to confirm suspect #2's presence and evaluate the threat he posed," a Department of Homeland Security official told BuzzFeed News. "This facilitated both situational awareness and operational coordination. We believe, as do Massachusetts and Boston officials, that the FLIR camera was instrumental in the apprehension of the suspect and protected the safety of law enforcement officers engaged in the search."

An official did not respond directly to a question about whether Kamoie ever read the Globe article or not.

Police leaders have, by and large, been supportive of federal militarization programs, some of which provide millions in surplus military equipment ranging from filing cabinets to MRAPs to local police forces free of charge.

Boston police have also praised the DHS grant program and the equipment it purchased, specifically in a July 2013 Senate hearing on the response to the Boston bombings.

"Boston… received important technology that would not be possible without the federal funding," Edward Davis, then the Boston Police commissioner, told the Senate Homeland Security committee. "Command posts, armored vehicles, robots and other safety equipment contributed to the safety of my officers and other officers in the Boston area and the success of the investigation."

The Obama administration argues that training programs, communications gear, security drills, armored vehicles, and other efforts paid for by the federal grants helped Boston weather the bombing and prove the value of sharing military know-how and equipment with local police forces.

"We firmly believe that many of the capabilities demonstrated in Boston in the immediate aftermath of the bombing, including the apprehension of the suspects, were built or enhanced–and have been sustained–through the preparedness grant funding made available under the Homeland Security Grant Program, including the Urban Areas Security Initiative and the State Homeland Security Program," Department Of Homeland Security spokesperson Justin Greenberg told BuzzFeed News.

Massachusetts has received than more $990 million in federal preparedness grant funds since 2002, according to DHS. Boston alone received more than $415 million in federal grant money. Federal officials said on April 15, 2013, that money helped pay for emergency medical equipment specifically outfitted to deal with casualties from an attack like the bombing. Federal funding also paid for the chopper-mounted FLIR sensor as well as a $13.8 million worth of communications equipment to provide for interactions between various first responders. The funding also paid for a large-scale exercise that a DHS official said helped Boston first responders work out communications kinks not long before the system was put to the test after the bombs went off on the final steps of the Marathon.

Many critics of police militarization in Congress have backed legislation that wouldn't affect non-combat-style surplus Pentagon hardware (which accounts for the vast majority of surplus distributed under the Defense Department's so-called 1033 program) from being distributed to local police forces.

Conservatives like Coburn worry about the costs associated with federal grant programs, and question the need for expensive technology like the FLIR. Anti-militarization activists on the left and libertarian right have mostly focused their post-Ferguson efforts on 1033.

On Monday, the White House announced it would leave all those programs in place largely as they are now, though officials continue to publicly criticize militarized police responses and warn the tactics can disproportionately target minorities. For now, the administration has chosen to focus on better training for the use of military gear and data collection requirements to help track when — and against whom — combat-ready equipment is used by local police. A new militarization task force created by Obama this week promises to take a special look at how police relations with communities of color are affected by the use of military-style equipment and tactics.

The administration continues to argue the Boston Marathon bombing proves the value of programs demilitarization advocates criticize.

"The response by Massachusetts and Boston emergency response and law enforcement agencies in the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing remains a sterling example of the value of these preparedness grant program," Greenberg said.

Federal Government To Expand Ban On Police Profiling

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The long-awaited policy announced Monday expands who is covered and ends a broad exemption for “national security” concerns. The ban will still not apply to most activities of the Border Patrol or the Transportation Security Administration. [Update: The guidance has been issued.]

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Dec. 1.

Tami Chappell / Reuters

WASHINGTON — Federal law enforcement will be barred in most instances from profiling people on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity, under new guidance to be issued by the Department of Justice on Monday.

The move is a long-awaited expansion of 2003 guidance for federal law enforcement issued by Attorney General John Ashcroft under President George W. Bush, which deemed racial profiling in law enforcement wrong and ineffective, but only outlined specific bans on profiling based on race and ethnicity.

"As Attorney General, I have repeatedly made clear that profiling by law enforcement is not only wrong, it is profoundly misguided and ineffective – because it wastes precious resources and undermines the public trust," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. "Particularly in light of certain recent incidents we've seen at the local level – and the widespread concerns about trust in the criminal justice process which so many have raised throughout the nation – it's imperative that we take every possible action to institute strong and sound policing practices."

The new guidelines also set in place standards for allowing profiling due to national security concerns. However, exemptions remain largely intact for activities related to border integrity, a move the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington head already has called "distressing." These exempted activities include those of Border Patrol's enforcement in the vicinity of the border and the Transportation Security Administration — although a DHS review will take place "to ensure we are including every appropriate safeguard and civil rights protection" in those operations, according to information provided by the department.

However, parts of the Department of Homeland Security — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement's civil immigration enforcement activities, the Coast Guard's law enforcement activities, and federal air marshals — will be subject to the profiling limits.

The new guidance has been a long time coming. Holder began the review in his first year at the helm of the Justice Department.

The outgoing attorney general highlighted his intention to expand the 2003 policy throughout his tenure, but as time passed, progressive groups grew frustrated that the review that began in 2009 was still not completed.

With Monday's announcement, Holder is hoping to cement his legacy on this issue.

He called the guidance "a major and important step forward to ensure effective policing by federal law enforcement officials and state and local law enforcement participating in federal task forces throughout the nation." He will participate in a call with local law enforcement on Monday to discuss the guidance and urge them to adopt it for their own agencies and departments.

As tensions flared in Ferguson, Missouri, this summer after the shooting death of Michael Brown, Holder became the national face on the scene — visiting with government officials, community leaders, and Brown's family. When he announced that he would be stepping down as attorney general, Justice Department officials highlighted that visit to Ferguson — and mentioned Holder's goal to continue his work to restore trust between black Americans and law enforcement, even after he leaves the department.

Given this focus, it was not surprising that Holder pressed to get the new guidance out before he leaves.

"For the last several weeks, Attorney General Holder has diligently pressed for the revised policy to be finalized before he leaves office," a Justice Department official said of the release of the new guidance, calling it a "signature accomplishment" of Holder's tenure. "During the last two weeks in particular, it has been the first item on the agenda each day in his morning senior staff meetings."

Under the 2003 guidelines, the federal government identified two different categories under which profiling is banned. The new guidelines expand the ban on profiling in "routine or spontaneous" law enforcement decisions like traffic stops, except for in circumstances where there is a specific suspect description, to include gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity, in addition to race and ethnicity.

Monday's guidance also added a new requirement for profiling in specific investigations. While profiling is still permitted where there is "trustworthy information" relevant to the time or place linking a person of a specific race or ethnicity to "an identified criminal incident, scheme or organization," now the law enforcement officer engaging in the practice must "reasonably believe that the law enforcement or intelligence activity to be undertaken is merited under the totality of the circumstances."

The "investigations" standards will also now apply to circumstances where there is such "trustworthy information" regarding "a threat to national security" or "an authorized intelligence activity."

Finally, some state and local law enforcement, in some circumstances, will be covered by the new guidance. The guidance, according to the Justice Department, will apply to "state and local law enforcement officers while participating in federal law enforcement task forces." That standard falls short of the standard being sought by the broad civil rights and civil liberties coalition pushing for the changes, who had asked that the guidance apply to all state and local law enforcement "working in cooperation with federal agencies or receiving federal financial assistance, including grants, training, use of equipment, donations of surplus property, and other assistance."

The formal guidance itself is expected to be issued later in the day on Monday.


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CBC Member: Ben Carson Supporters Have "Vein Of Ignorance," Are "Like A Lynch Mob"

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“…when we have blacks like that trying to tap into the ignorance of people who have been whipped into a frenzy, like a lynch mob, and you go to try to garner support from those folks, I think it’s very disappointing that we would have that kind of political discourse going on in this country.”

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Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia says supporters of former surgeon and potential Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson are ignorant people who "have been whipped into a frenzy, like a lynch mob."

The congressman, who is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, was speaking on The Michael Smerconish Show on Friday when he made the comments.

"Yeah, I think Barack Obama has been one of the greatest presidents that we have had in the history of this nation," said Johnson. "It's unfortunate that — since he raised his hand and took the oath in his first inauguration — that he's been met with nothing but opposition, and confrontation, and actual, personal dehumanization."

"And so what we're seeing with — so I support the president, I believe he's done as much as is humanly possible to advance the cause of justice and prosperity and freedom for all people, not just blacks, and not just here in America, but across the world. I think he has changed the paradigm of American foreign policy."

Johnson singled out Dr. Ben Carson as an example of what he called "African Americans trying to tap into that vein of ignorance," against the president.

"But it's unfortunate that everything he does tends to pick up opposition from his political enemies, and it has become more than just political — it's personal enemies."

"And so, to the extent that we have African Americans trying to tap into that vein of ignorance, African Americans like Dr. Ben Carson, who is a very smart, well-educated man and knows exactly what he's doing, when we have blacks like that trying to tap into the ignorance of people who have been whipped into a frenzy, like a lynch mob, and you go to try to garner support from those folks, I think it's very disappointing that we would have that kind of political discourse going on in this country.

Johnson said Carson was "appealing to the lowest common denominator," adding "there could be nothing more disappointing than that kind of thinking."

The Year In President Obama's Facial Expressions

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It has been an eventful year for our commander-in-chief. Here’s how he reacted to it all, presented without comment:

Composite by BuzzFeed

At the Buck Lodge Middle School in Adelphi, Maryland, on February 4.

AFP / Getty Images JEWEL SAMAD

Before presenting the Medal of Honor to retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie G. Adkins on September 15.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

At the National Prayer Breakfast on February 6.

Pool / Getty Images


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White House Says Senate CIA Torture Report To Be Released Tuesday

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White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the Senate Intelligence Committee informed them of their intention to release the report on Tuesday.

The Senate Intelligence Committee will release their long-awaited declassified report on CIA detention and interrogation policies during the Bush Administration on Tuesday, according to White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.

"We have heard from the committee that they do intend to release the report tomorrow," Earnest said at Monday's White House press briefing. "The timing of the release of the report is something that has always been up to the committee, and it's a decision that they have made."

Earnest did note that the administration has taken security precautions around the globe in anticipation of the report's release.

"The administration has been for months has been preparing for the release of this report. There are some indications that this, that the release of the report, could lead to a greater risk that is posed to U.S. facilities and individuals all around the world. So the administration has taken the prudent steps to ensure that the proper security precautions are in place at U.S. facilities around the globe."

"That said, the administration strongly supports the release of this declassified summary of the report."

CIA Says It Policed Its Interrogators, Referred 20 Cases Of Wrongdoing

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Internal efforts by the CIA to police its controversial interrogation program will be a key part of defense against Senate report detailing alleged abuses.

Jason Reed / Reuters / Reuters

WASHINGTON — A former CIA official said on Monday that the agency actively policed its controversial Bush-era "enhanced interrogation program," making 20 criminal referrals involving interrogators to the to the Department of Justice for review.

With the Senate expected to release a scathing report on the program Tuesday morning, former officials and defenders of the program are ramping up a major defense of their actions, and the self-policing appears to be a key part of that effort.

"I know the CIA sent 20 referrals to the Department of Justice for their consideration," former CIA spokesman Bill Harlow told BuzzFeed News Monday. "Was it run perfectly? No, there were mistakes made … Was it generally well run? Yes."

Harlow is coordinating the defense of the interrogation program along with former CIA Director George Tenet and Jose Rodriguez, who headed up the agency's counter-terrorism program.

As part of their defense, former CIA officials are launching "CIASAVEDLIVES.COM," which will go live when the report is released on Tuesday.

Harlow adamantly denied that the CIA ever attempted to sweep crimes under the rug. "The point is the agency wasn't trying to hide it when people overstepped their bounds [and reported it] when the agency heard people had done so."

The Senate Intelligence Committee is expected to release its long awaited report Tuesday morning. The heavily redacted report reportedly runs 480 pages and is expected to detail allegations of significant human rights abuses and violations of federal law.

Incoming Intel Chair: Senate CIA Report Could Cause "Serious Damage" To U.S. Partners

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“What will be new tomorrow is the references to our partners, people that helped, places that were willing to hold prisoners,” said Sen. Richard Burr. The long-awaited report comes out on Tuesday.

U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC)

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

WASHINGTON — The incoming chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee sharply criticized the findings of a long-awaited interrogation report to be released by Senate Democrats on Tuesday.

North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr said information contained in the report about interrogation techniques used during the Bush era are not new or unknown. What is new in the report, Burr said, was information on countries and partners who helped the U.S. with prisoners at the time.

"What will be new tomorrow is the references to our partners, people that helped, places that were willing to hold prisoners," he told reporters on Monday. "There's nothing there are going to glean from the stand point of what the American response was. This is a report that will really expose a lot of the cooperation we have around the world."

Burr said negotiations over what will be redacted are ongoing but he feared that enemies of the U.S. would "connect the dots" to figure out key pieces of information.

"If anybody can connect the dots and from this derive who a person or country was then we've done serious damage to that country or person," he said.

While the White House says it is prepared for the report's release, press secretary Josh Earnest said on Monday the "the administration has taken the prudent steps to ensure that the proper security precautions are in place at U.S. facilities around the globe."

Burr said that he is hopeful there will not be any kind of attack in response to what's in the report but if it did it will be "the direct result of releasing this report," he said.

Charity Aimed At Supporting Darren Wilson Refuses To Release Financial Information

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Shield of Hope has raised at least $400,000 in support of Wilson.

Jim Young / Reuters

WASHINGTON — The charity that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support Darren Wilson is refusing to say how it has spent that money.

Shield of Hope, a 501c3 charity for local police officers, raised at least $400,000 on GoFundMe.com to support Wilson, the police officer who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Now, months after the charity shut down that GoFundMe page, those running the organization are refusing to say what they've done with the donations and whether any of the funds have gone toward supporting Wilson. A note on the now-shuttered GoFundMe page said the charity would use the money for "potential legal fees, relocation and living expenses of both Officer Darren Wilson and his immediate family."

According to Brian Beck, the lawyer who represents Shield of Hope, that information might be released at some point.

"Shield of Hope will make information available to the public at the appropriate time, and declines to comment at this time," Beck told BuzzFeed News in an email.

Other calls and emails to the charity's board have either gone unanswered or the person reached refused to comment on the charity's actions. When initially reached by phone, Beck refused to even confirm he was Shield of Hope's lawyer.

A grand jury recently opted not to indict Wilson in connection with Brown's death and an ongoing federal investigation has yet to yield any results.

An email to Wilson's lawyer was not returned.

After securing the donations, one of the charity's board members said those running Shield of Hope weren't entirely sure they could legally use the funds raised for their intended purpose.

"If we find money was donated to the Shield of Hope's GoFundMe and it can't be used for the express purpose it was intended for, we will return it," Jeff Roorda, one of the charity's board members, told the Riverfront Times in September.

The board consists of Roorda, a state representative who was ousted in November, Timothy Zoll, the spokesman for the Ferguson police department, and Florissant councilman Joseph Eagan.

As a 501c3, the charity is required to file an annual 990 financial disclosure form. But 990s don't always tell the whole story of how an organization operates.

A search on Guidestar.com shows no viewable 990 forms from Shield of Hope, which has existed since at least 2011.

Company Associated With Ebola Con Man Takes Down Website After BuzzFeed News Story

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MailMySharps.com claimed to sell medical waste equipment, but much of its website was apparently copied from a competing company. MailMySharps.com is associated with Bio-Recovery, the controversial company hired to clean up Ebola in New York City. A follow-up to an ongoing BuzzFeed News investigation .

MailMySharps.com, before it was taken down.

A company associated with the con man hired to clean up Ebola in New York City has taken down most of its website content after BuzzFeed News exposed last week that much of it was copied directly from a competing company.

The company, MailMySharps.com, claimed to sell medical waste equipment, but its website featured material apparently copied directly from a Texas-based company, Sharps Compliance.

After BuzzFeed News asked Sharps Compliance about the similarities between the websites, Sharps Compliance sent a legal letter demanding that MailMySharps.com take down "all content related to or stolen from" the company by Dec. 10, said Sharps Compliance's director of marketing, Dennis Halligan, in an email.

Now, MailMySharps.com has disappeared, and its URL instead goes directly to Bio-Recovery Corp., the company New York City hired to clean up Ebola; the city has stopped working with Bio-Recovery pending a review. Links to the FAQ page, about page, contact page, and all other pages now return a message, "Oops! That page can't be found."

An ongoing BuzzFeed News investigation has found that Sal Pane, who was the city's main contact for the Ebola contract, has made numerous false claims about his and the company's experience. In fact, Pane has a long and colorful history of telling falsehoods, is a mortgage scammer and convicted felon, and showed up with his crew to the Harlem apartment of Ebola patient Dr. Craig Spencer on Oct. 24 in a truck bearing permit numbers that belonged to a dead man.

When called on Monday, Pane hung up on BuzzFeed News. He did not respond to emails asking why the site was taken down.


Rep. Darrell Issa Compares Jonathan Gruber To Forrest Gump

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“Are you stupid?”

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WASHINGTON — Rep. Darrell Issa asked Jonathan Gruber if he was a "successful stupid man" like Forrest Gump at a House Oversight Committee hearing Tuesday.

"Night before last I was at the Kennedy Center Honors, where they honored Tom Hanks. Famously Forrest Gump, the ultimate in successful stupid man," Issa, the chairman of the Oversight Committee, said. "Are you stupid?"

"I don't think so. No," Gruber said.

"Does MIT employ stupid people," Issa asked in a follow up question.

"Not to my knowledge," Gruber said.

Gruber is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist who worked on both Obamacare and Romneycare. Video of Gruber saying Americans were too "stupid" to understand Obamacare and that a lack of transparency helped pass the bill has recently become fodder for Republicans to rail against the president's signature healthcare law.

CIA Made Cash Payments To Countries That Hosted Black Sites, Report Says

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The report by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence also says two secretaries of state were not informed of black site locations.

WASHINGTON — The CIA paid millions of dollars in cash to foreign governments to get them to host secret detention facilities where "enhanced interrogation" techniques were carried out, a Senate report on the CIA's controversial detention and interrogation programs says.

The report, released Tuesday after a five-year investigation by Democrats on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, says the CIA essentially bribed foreign government officials to convince them to host so-called "black sites," secret prisons where the CIA housed and interrogated terror suspects. The report does not name any of the countries that hosted black sites, though the list of countries that did so is known to include Poland, Romania, Thailand, and Afghanistan.

The report also states that the CIA built two facilities that were never used, due to political concerns in the proposed host countries, and that the program led to strained relationships with U.S. allies:

The report also states that the CIA built two facilities that were never used, due to political concerns in the proposed host countries, and that the program led to strained relationships with U.S. allies:

Via intelligence.senate.gov

The report also states that in one of the countries, CIA officers gave small amounts of cash to local officials where they were keeping detainees in conditions that didn't meet international standards for detention:

The report also states that in one of the countries, CIA officers gave small amounts of cash to local officials where they were keeping detainees in conditions that didn't meet international standards for detention:

Via intelligence.senate.gov


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Harry Reid Is "Opposed" To Congress Messing With D.C's Marijuana Law

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“I’m opposed to what the House is trying to do,” Reid said. Reid noted if the House includes a rider to halt D.C.’s law, it could be hard to remove.

Joshua Roberts / Reuters

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday he's against Congress using the spending bill to meddle with D.C.'s new law legalizing marijuana.

"I'm opposed to what the House is trying to do," Reid said. "If they put it in there, it's going to be hard to take it out over here."

House Republicans are reportedly trying to include a rider in the omnibus spending bill needed to fund the government that would in some way halt the district's government from implementing the initiative. Congress has control over D.C.'s local budget.

This November, D.C. voted overwhelmingly to legalize possession of up to two ounces of marijuana and the up to three plants.

Reid added that he's spoken with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s representative in Congress, about the matter.

This story has been updated to reflect Reid's full quote.

Supreme Court Denies Stay Of Execution For Man With Claimed Intellectual Disability

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Attorneys for Robert Wayne Holsey, on death row for killing a sheriff’s deputy, are fighting to stop his execution because they say his original trial was mishandled by a soon-to-be disbarred and imprisoned alcoholic lawyer.

AP Photo/Georgia Department of Corrections


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Republicans, Democrats Slam Kerry Over Lack Of War Authority

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“There’s a famous movie that says show me the money. Show us the language.”

Yuri Gripas / Reuters

WASHINGTON — Democratic and Republicans Senators sharply criticized Secretary of State John Kerry and the Obama administration Tuesday for not crafting their own language for a new authorization to fight against ISIS and forcing the committee to come up with their own draft.

"There's a famous movie that says show me the money. Show us the language," Menendez said at Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the new authorization.

Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Bob Menendez, have crafted a new authorized use of military force (AUMF) for the U.S to combat ISIS.

Kerry said the administration generally supported the basic principles of the Menendez language, but they were seeking to work out issues that would "pre-emptively bind the hands of the Commander-in-Chief" specifically on the length of the time the AUMF would be active and the use of ground troops.

Menendez in particular expressed frustration with Kerry's assertion that the administration wanted to work with Congress to come up with a new AUMF.

"We have shared several draft texts with the white house counsel, to be very honest with you we get very little in response," he said.

The debate this week around the AUMF has been building for months, as Senate Democrats in particular have grown louder in their unease with relying on the 2001 AUMF to combat ISIS.

Kerry was insistent at the hearing that the administration desired a new authorized use of military force (AUMF) but they did not need one for the current fight against ISIS, relying instead on the 2001 and 2002 AUMF.

Sen. Bob Corker, the ranking member on the committee, pushed Kerry on whether the Obama administration needed additional authority for their current operation to which Kerry replied "very clearly, yes" under the 2001 AUMF and parts of the 2002 legislation.

Kerry then suggested that if Congress were to pass an "ISIL-specific" AUMF, the administration would support language to make that AUMF "the vehicle for authority and not the 2001 and that will give comfort to a lot of people."

Additionally, at that point, the administration would support the repeal of the 2002 AUMF.

Kerry added several times the President had no desire to send troops into combat, but he did not want to rule out any hypothetical scenarios in which ground troops would be needed.

The Foreign Relations committee draft would give that AUMF a three-year duration, which Kerry said the administration supported "subject to provisions for extension."

Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, was another member on the committee who was confused as to why the administration hadn't submitted language of its own.

"After all that time why, why hasn't the administration sent us a draft proposal? It's been pretty much the history of previous presidents and that would make sense. The commander in chief would kind of like to lay out the actions he would want and he would believe are necessary," Johnson said.

"As I said I think you've got a pretty good draft," Kerry replied.

Menendez is committed to passing his bill out of the Foreign Relations committee this week although it is unlikely it will be voted on the Senate floor this session of Congress.

"It's important for us to begin the process now, even if we can't get it across the finish line," Sen. Chris Murphy told BuzzFeed News prior to the hearing. "This year will make it easier to pass something next year if we've begun the discussions in earnest. It's something different to vaguely talk about an AUMF and actually putting pen to paper. So even if we don't get something passed until next year, this exercise of really having members flesh out what they're willing to vote for is important."

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