[Excerpt from Senator Leahy on Bush's judicial nominees: You Can't "Make The Judiciary An Arm Of The Republican Party".]

Amy Goodman: Senator Leahy, I wanted to get to two other issues before I know you have to go.

Senator Patrick Leahy: Sure.

Amy Goodman: One of them is IMET. One of them is Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State, calling for the restoration of international military education and training aid to Indonesia, restoring military ties with the Indonesian military, which were cut off after the Santa Cruz massacre in 1991, in which the Indonesian military killed more than 270 Timorese, and ultimately cut off in 1999 as the people of Timor voted for independence and Indonesian military razed the country to the ground. Now, Condoleezza Rice saying that they're going to restore. You have been very active on this issue over the past decade. What is your response?

Senator Patrick Leahy: Well, you are one of the most knowledgeable people in the media about the situation in Indonesia and Timor from your own experience there, and I've told Secretary Rice, I see no reason to be rewarding the Indonesians with this IMET program. It's not a great deal of money. They want it more for the symbolic, but we've had Americans murdered there, aside from all of the people in that region, the Timorese and others who have been murdered, and nothing has been done. I mean, if we just want to look at it from a purely selfish point of view, we have had Americans who have been murdered. You have a person who has admitted complicity in the murder, and we cannot get them even turned over to us. Why in heaven's name we are rewarding? This is supposed to be a law and order administration. Heck, I was a prosecutor. I wouldn't be rewarding somebody who is holding a murderer that I wanted to get, that Mr. Wamang, the one person indicted in the US, why hasn't he been indicted and arrested there?

Amy Goodman: So what are you going to do about – ?

Senator Patrick Leahy: Well, I think that we – I think I'm going to keep pushing it. I think it was a bad, bad mistake on the part of the administration. I think it's almost saying, here you can thumb your nose at us. I would be amazed that they would do a thing to help us out, and unless there is an amazing change in it, I'm simply going to bring up the amendment again in the next appropriations bill. I think this is – the Indonesians have spent millions of dollars trying to get these few hundred thousands of dollars because of the symbolic effect. My response to that would be if you want the symbolism, then do the substance. Turn over the people that murdered the Americans. Clean up your own house within the military. I think the police and others are moving better. The military certainly have not.