Citizen detention, Iran bank sanctions coming up in Defense bill Thursday

Detaining U.S. citizens under military custody and sanctioning the Iran central bank are two issues that will get a vote Thursday as the Senate looks to wrap up the Defense authorization bill.

The amendments are among dozens that will be dealt with as the Senate works toward passing the bill. The upper chamber voted 88-12 to end debate on the Defesnse legislation Wednesday.

The amendment from Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) would toughen U.S. sanctions against Iran’s central bank in an effort to prevent the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Two amendments from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) are designed to change the Defense legislation’s mandate of military custody for terror suspects, an issue that’s drawn a veto threat from the White House.

One of Feinstein’s amendments would bar the military from indefinitely detaining U.S. citizens, an issue that sparked contentious debate Wednesday on the Senate floor.

It’s unclear whether Feinstein’s amendments will be successful: An attempt by Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) to strip the detainee provisions from the bill was defeated Tuesday in a 38-60 vote.

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