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| House Approves Bill on Terror Detainees |
Itsdb |
09/28/06 |
By ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The House approved legislation Wednesday giving the Bush administration authority to interrogate and prosecute terrorism detainees, moving President Bush to the edge of a pre-election victory with a key piece of his anti-terror plan.
The mostly party-line 253-168 vote in the Republican-run House prompted bitter charges afterward by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., that opposition Democrats were coddling terrorists, perhaps foreshadowing campaign attack ads to come. Democrats responded that the GOP leader was trying to provoke fear...
The legislation would establish a military court system to prosecute terror suspects, a response to the Supreme Court ruling in June that Congress' blessing was necessary. While the bill would grant defendants more legal rights than they had under the administration's old system, it nevertheless would eliminate rights usually granted in civilian and military courts.
The measure also provides extensive definitions of war crimes such as torture, rape and biological experiments _ but gives Bush broad authority to decide which other techniques U.S. interrogators can legally use. The provisions are intended to protect CIA interrogators from being prosecuted for war crimes.
For nearly two weeks, the GOP has been embarrassed as the White House and rebellious Republican senators have fought publicly over whether Bush's plan would give him too much authority. But they struck a compromise last Thursday, and Republicans are hoping approval will bolster their effort to cast themselves as strong on national security, a marquee issue this election year...
...House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Democrats feared the House-passed measure could endanger U.S. soldiers by encouraging other countries to limit the rights of captured American troops. She said the bill would be vulnerable to being overturned by the Supreme Court.
"Speaker Hastert's false and inflammatory rhetoric is yet another desperate attempt to mislead the American people and provoke fear," said Pelosi, D-Calif., adding that Democrats "have an unshakable commitment to catching, convicting and punishing terrorists who attack Americans."
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"Democrats responded that the GOP leader was trying to provoke fear." What are the Democrats doing, instilling confidence?
Kucinich: "This bill is everything we don't believe in."
Levin: The bill would be "used by our terrorist enemies as evidence of U.S. hypocrisy when it comes to proclamations of human rights."
Leahy: “This is un-American, this is unconstitutional, this is contrary to American interests, this is not what a great and good and powerful nation should be doing.”
Hoyer: “When our moral standing is eroded, our international credibility is diminished as well.”
Tauscher: "Keep in mind, the president's original plan has not given us the ability to prosecute anyone, because they got it wrong...and because they blew it, and are about to blow it again, we're still not going to be able to bring the 9/11 perpetrators to justice."
Pelosi: “It’s been five years since 9/11, yet not one person who has been directly responsible for 9/11 has been prosecuted and punished. There’s something wrong with this picture. And this bill today, because it does violence to the Constitution of the United States, also could produce convictions that may well be overturned...
This bill does not help us achieve the goal of bringing anyone to trial. It is badly flawed. It threatens the safety of our troops, our ability to prosecute terrorists effectively, our ability to protect the American people, and to honor our oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution...
“Perhaps most distressing, this bill could very well boomerang on us – putting American troops in danger...
Isn't that 'provoking fear'?
Pelosi said Democrats "have an unshakable commitment to catching, convicting and punishing terrorists who attack Americans." Is that the Democrat plan for protecting us I've been hearing about, punishing those who attack us? What's their plan for preventing those attacks? |
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