Reid says he'll vote against Mukasey

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday he will oppose Michael Mukasey as U.S. attorney general when his confirmation vote reaches the Senate floor.

Despite Mukasey's failure to classify waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of moving his nomination to the floor Friday.

"(It's) very clear that the United States has looked down, down, down on waterboarding in years past, going back a hundred years, when President Theodore Roosevelt was president," Reid, D-Nev., told reporters. "So ... for the nominee for attorney general to be so evasive in an answer as to whether waterboarding is torture is someone who does not understand history. "

Reid told reporters Senate leaders would "work to get this up before we leave here for Thanksgiving" but could not say when Mukasey's nomination would be brought before the full Senate.