Democrats seek classified briefing with Rice

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats said on Monday that Republicans were denying lawmakers a chance to get new information on Iraq and the Bush administration's treatment of prisoners by having Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice give an unclassified briefing.

But Republicans said they were giving lawmakers a chance to hear from Rice about the administration's plans in Iraq and discuss that freely with their constituents in her briefing scheduled for Wednesday.

Senate Minority leader Harry Reid accused Majority leader Bill Frist of disregarding "our normal, long-standing protocol" by limiting Rice's scheduled briefing to non-classified matters, and said it will deny members a chance to "fully and thoroughly question" Rice.

Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said he could "only conclude" that Frist took the step "to protect the administration and prevent it from being held accountable for its performance."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051212/pl_nm/iraq_congress_rice_dc

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I hope if Bush and the Republicans want to cut the Dems totally out, then they should be prepared to take 100% full responsibility for the consequences.