Ad Watch: DeWine’s Intel Career Defined By Failed Oversight

AMHERST, OH - In an attempt to hide his record of failure on the Senate Intelligence Committee, incumbent Republican Senator Mike DeWine released an ad today that brags about his "differences" with U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on intelligence and security.
 
Their careers are marked by defining differences:  DeWine voted to go to war with Iraq based on nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and voted against investigating the faulty intelligence that led us there.  Today, he revealed that he shelved a new intelligence report in which 16 of the Bush administration's intelligence agencies agreed that the Bush Iraq policy was creating a rallying point for global jihadists, and dismissed it when he read it yesterday.  Congressman Sherrod Brown voted against the war in Iraq and has called for a winning exit strategy.
 
"Senator DeWine abdicated his responsibilities on the Intelligence Committee," said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Brown.  "He voted to lead our nation to war with Iraq but voted against investigating the false intelligence that got us there.  For months, he shelved a groundbreaking report in which the 16 of the administration's intelligence agencies concluded that the war in Iraq has increased the terrorist threat to our nation, and dismissed the report as insignificant when he read it yesterday."

09/28/2006 / Permalink / Adwatch, Homeland Security, National Security, (all tags)

Congressional Update

Yesterday, Congressman Brown voted for a bill that creates a military tribunal to try those enemy combatants that have been held by the government since September 11, 2001.

This compromise is supported by Senator John McCain, a former POW who fought to ensure that this tribunal lives up to our national standards on human rights.

Unlike President Bush's plan, this compromise measure prohibits the degrading treatment of detainees and specifically lists the types of behaviors that are banned in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.

The Washington Post wrote about the legislation, "The compromise legislation does not seek to narrow U.S. obligations under the Geneva Conventions in the treatment of prisoners, as Bush had hoped."

Those detained have been held for more than 5 years with no opportunity to prove their guilt or innocence.

 It will provide that opportunity, so that those who are innocent can be set free and those who are guilty can be punished.     

The bill prohibits the use of cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment of detainees. Because that evidence is often unreliable, it will not admit evidence obtained through torture

Detainees will be entitled to Combatant Status Review, where they may challenge their detention within the confines of the military tribunal system. 

And the bill will allow combatants to receive an edited version of classified evidence being used to convict them so that they can respond without putting our national security at risk.

Congressman Brown feels it has taken far too long for a legal framework to be developed – for the innocent who must be freed, the guilty that must be punished, and our homeland which must be secured.

09/28/2006 / Permalink / Homeland Security, (all tags)

DeWine Shelved, Then Dismissed, Report on Growing Terrorist Threat

AMHERST, OH - The day before he aired a new television advertisement touting his membership on the Senate Intelligence Committee, incumbent Republican Senator Mike DeWine yesterday admitted that despite possessing the recently declassified National Intelligence Estimate since April, he only read the report yesterday.  After reading the report, in which 16 of the administration's intelligence agencies agreed that the War in Iraq was increasing terrorism by mobilizing jihadists, DeWine dismissed the report, saying:  "I'm just telling you, I'm looking at this report. There's nothing of great significance in this report" [Plain Dealer 9/28/06].
 
"After voting to lead our country to war with Iraq based on false intelligence, Senator DeWine's continued failure to exert any oversight as a member of the Intelligence Committee is shocking," said U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who voted against going to war with Iraq and has called for a winning exit strategy.  "The Bush administration's own intelligence agencies agreed in the National Intelligence Estimate that the War in Iraq has created a rallying point for jihadists, and has left the United States increasingly vulnerable to terrorist threats.  Senator DeWine continues to stand with President Bush in support of a stay-the-course Iraq strategy regardless of its threat to our nation's security."
 
This month, Senator DeWine disagreed with a majority of members on the Senate Intelligence Committee and signed a dissent to a bi-partisan report documenting intelligence failures in Iraq that led the Bush administration to falsely draw connections between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.  DeWine has stonewalled the investigation of the false intelligence that led the nation to war with Iraq over weapons of mass destruction that never materialized, and voted against establishing an independent commission to investigate prewar intelligence on Iraq  [S 1689, 10/17/03, #395; CQ Daily Monitor, 10/17/03].

Click here to read the article. 

09/28/2006 / Permalink / Homeland Security, National Security, (all tags)

DeWine Left Holes In Nation’s Security

While DeWine's Swift Boat supporters attack, nation weakened by false intelligence, failure to implement 9/11 Commission recommendations
 
AMHERST, OH -- An extremist special interest group founded with the express purpose of defending "the Bush agenda" is running advertisements supporting Ohio Republican incumbent Senator Mike DeWine's re-election campaign.
 
Distortions are nothing new for DeWine.  Earlier this year, he hired the firm that produced the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads using false images of the burning Twin Towers in an attack against Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-OH).  A loyal supporter of Bush's policies now rejected by the majority of Ohio voters, DeWine has not seen his approval rating rise above 42% in a public poll since June.
 
"Mike DeWine and Republicans in Washington know their policies have failed Ohio families," said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Brown.  "Mike DeWine slept through Intelligence Committee hearings and failed to question the false intelligence that led our country to war in Iraq, and he stands by the Bush administration's failed stay-the-course strategy today.  He voted to sign the security of our nation's ports away to foreign countries and corporations, and he and the GOP Congressional leadership have still not implemented the 9/11 Commission recommendations two years after their release.  Sherrod Brown has fought for a national security policy that is both tough and smart, focused on winning the War on Terror by securing the homeland and beating al Qaeda."

09/19/2006 / Permalink / Adwatch, Homeland Security, (all tags)

DeWine supports deal that threatens port security, Ohio jobs

Brown introduces legislation to ensure trade deals do not jeopardize U.S. security
 
AMHERST, OH -- The U.S. Senate is slated to begin debate today over the ratification of the Oman Free Trade Agreement, which U.S. Senator Mike DeWine supported earlier this year.  The Oman FTA would threaten the security of the United States by authorizing any company that has a subsidiary in Oman, including Dubai Ports World, to operate at U.S. port terminals.  Senator DeWine voted to ratify the Oman FTA earlier this year, and refused to take a stand when the state-owned Dubai Ports World corporation attempted to acquire major port terminal operations across the United States.
 
"Senator DeWine voted for job-killing trade deals that rewarded multinational corporations but jeopardized our national security," said U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH).  "The U.S. government should never give the keys to our national security away to a foreign country or corporation.  This is Dubai Ports World all over again, and Mike DeWine has failed to put our security first."
 

09/18/2006 / Permalink / Homeland Security, Trade, (all tags)

Sherrod Brown Delivers Democratic Radio Address on Fifth Anniversary of 9/11

AMHERST, OH – Today Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-OH), candidate for the United States Senate Seat in Ohio, delivered the Democratic response to the President’s National Radio Address marking the fifth anniversary of September 11.

The text and audio file is available here: http://sherrodbrown.com/pages/democratic_radio_response. The address aired immediately following the president’s address on major radio networks, including ABC, AP, AURN, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, NPR, American Forces Radio, Voice of America, BBC, CBC, and Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

09/09/2006 / Permalink / Homeland Security, Iraq, (all tags)

Sherrod Delivers Democratic Response to President Bush’s 9/11 Anniversary Address

On Saturday, September 9, 2006, Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-OH), candidate for the United States Senate Seat in Ohio, delivered the Democratic response to the President’s National Radio Address marking the fifth anniversary of September 11. 

The address aired immediately following the president’s address on major radio networks, including ABC, AP, AURN, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, NPR, American Forces Radio, Voice of America, BBC, CBC, and Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Listen to audio below:

Click here to learn more.

09/09/2006 / Permalink / Audio, Homeland Security, Iraq, (all tags)

Brown, First Responders Call for Implementation of 9/11 Commission Recommendations

Five years after 9/11, unacceptably large security holes remain
 
Cleveland, OH -- U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was joined today at the Port of Cleveland by first responders and longshoremen to call for the urgent implementation of the two-year old recommendations of the bi-partisan 9/11 Commission.  Three Ohio cities - Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus - are at high risk of terrorist attacks, but the Bush administration cut homeland security grants to the state by $37 million.  President Bush, Senator DeWine, and the Republican leadership in Washington have failed to provide full funding for first responders and to close security gaps that are leaving Ohio vulnerable to future threats.
 
"Five years after the September 11th attacks our ports, our plants, our transit systems, and our airports still remain vulnerable to terrorist attacks," said Brown.  "We cannot afford to let another year go by without implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. To win the war on terror, we must first secure our homeland.  It is inexcusable that five years after one of the worst tragedies our nation has ever faced, the Republican leadership still is dragging its feet."
 
Brown also called for the full inspection of the cargo at U.S. ports.  Currently, only 6% of the cargo at U.S. ports is inspected.  Senator Mike DeWine refused to take a stand on the Dubai ports deal, when a foreign, state-owned corporation attempted to acquire several major port terminal operations across the United States.
 
"We ask grandmothers to take their shoes off at airports, yet we inspect less than 6% of the cargo at U.S. ports," stated Brown.  "We must set a one hundred percent standard and inspect all of the cargo that crosses our borders.  While we are lucky that the British government was able to intercept the latest group of terrorists determined to strike our nation, the method of their attack was not new. We must be better prepared and use all the tools we have available to secure our nation."
 
While homeland security funding for Ohio has been cut, the U.S. continues to spend more than $2 billion a week on the war in Iraq.  Senator Mike DeWine said that the United States should only redeploy its troops from Iraq if the country breaks out into civil war, and this week, failed to vote "no confidence" in Secretary Rumsfeld's mismanagement of the war.
 
"The Bush administration squandered billions of dollars in resources on the war in Iraq, and cut Ohio's homeland security grants and funding for first responders," said Brown.  "Instead of standing up for Ohio communities, Senator DeWine rubberstamped the Bush administration's stay-the-course strategy in Iraq.  It's time for new leadership in Washington that secures our homeland and pursues the most urgent terrorist threats around the globe."

09/08/2006 / Permalink / Homeland Security, (all tags)