YOUR US Senate Hard at “Work”
“The present system may be flawed, but that’s not to say that we in Congress can’t make it worse.”
- Representative E. Clay Shaw (R-Florida) in 1994 during the debate on health-care reform.
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Boy, I sure feel safe knowing that Congress is busy “passing laws” to protect the rights of terrorists !!!!
Somehow I’m pretty sure that the Army Field Manual was written with lawful combatants (who follow the rules of war) in mind. I tend to doubt that it was written to protect the “rights” of unlawful combatant savages who intentionally target civilians.
If Congress insists on “passing laws” (primarily to appease the lunatic left at the expense of the safety of the American people), perhaps they should “pass a law” that forbids Islamic Fascists from incinerating any US cities. How about that ??
– Smitty, 2-14-08
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Source: http://www.twincities.com//ci_8255888
Senate bans harsh interrogation
Bush has threatened to veto restrictions on CIA
BY DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
New York Times
Article Last Updated: 02/13/2008 11:00:49 PM CST
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday voted to ban waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods that have been used by the CIA against high-level terrorism suspects, setting up a confrontation with President Bush, who has threatened to veto the bill.
The prohibition of coercive interrogation methods, part of a broader intelligence authorization bill, would limit all American interrogators to techniques permitted in the Army Field Manual, which bars the use of physical force. The Senate voted 51-45, with five Republicans joining 45 Democrats and one independent in favor of the ban.
The Senate action is the latest chapter in a long-running battle between congressional Democrats and the Bush administration over the treatment of terrorist detainees and the boundaries of executive privilege, two issues that are also certain to be hotly debated in the presidential election.
Sen. John McCain, the leading Republican presidential candidate and former prisoner of war who opposes harsh interrogation tactics, voted against the bill. McCain said the ban would limit the CIA’s ability to gather intelligence but that his vote was consistent with his firm stance against torture.
“We always supported allowing the CIA to use extra measures,” McCain said. “I believe waterboarding is illegal and should be banned.”
Democratic supporters of the ban hailed its passage and immediately challenged Bush to veto it, saying that to do so would effectively endorse torture.
“If the president vetoes intelligence authorization, he will be voting in favor of waterboarding,” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., declared at a news conference.
The majority leader, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, said: “We are taking an important step toward restoring our moral leadership in the world. It is now up to the president to show his own moral leadership and sign this bill into law.”
Two Democratic presidential candidates, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, did not vote because they were campaigning Wednesday.
Republicans opposing the ban were joined by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut independent, and Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. They insisted the bill would restrict the CIA and potentially jeopardize the nation’s security.
Sen. Christopher Bond of Missouri, the ranking Republican on the Select Committee on Intelligence, said Democrats were irresponsibly and baselessly accusing the CIA of torture and that limiting the interrogators to techniques in the Army Field Manual would seriously undermine American intelligence-gathering efforts.
“Unless the measure is stripped out, or the bill is vetoed, which I expect it will be, if it’s included it would shut down the most prolific source of information, useful actual information that the CIA receives,” Bond said.
Bond said Senate Republicans, in their handling of the bill, had been mindful of the Democrats’ political intentions to accuse Republicans “of saying they favor torture.” He said Republican leaders decided that letting Bush veto the measure was the best course of action.
Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman voted against the bill. Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Wisconsin Democrats Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl voted in favor of it.