Letter to Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee

Letter

Letter to Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Commit

The full text of the letter is below:

Dear Mr. Chairman:

We write to you today to respectfully request a hearing before the Armed Services Committee for S. 576, the Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007. As your Committee considers further action on the policies needed to counter the threat our nation faces from terrorism, we strongly believe that a hearing on this legislation is appropriate.

The Restoring the Constitution Act was introduced on February 13, 2007, and has been referred to the Armed Services Committee. This legislation establishes an effective system for prosecuting terrorists, while at the same time ensuring our nation's commitment to upholding the rule of law.

As you know, last year the Senate passed the Military Commissions Act. This ill-considered and dangerous legislation was rushed through Congress and signed by the President in less than a month. The Military Commissions Act has weakened our nation's standing throughout the world and placed the system designed to prosecute enemy combatants under a cloud of legal uncertainty. Our legislation would overturn many of the provisions of the Military Commissions Act, by:

* Restoring the writ of habeas corpus for individuals held in U.S. custody.

* Narrowing the definition of unlawful enemy combatant to individuals who directly participate in hostilities against the United States in a zone of active combat, who are not lawful combatants.

* Requiring that the United States live up to its Geneva Convention obligations by deleting a prohibition in the law that bars detainees from invoking Geneva Conventions as a source of rights at trial.

* Permitting the accused to retain qualified civilian attorneys to represent them at trial.

* Preventing the use of evidence in court gained through the unreliable and immoral practices of torture and coercion.

* Charging the military judge with the responsibility for ensuring that the jury is appropriately informed as to the sources, methods and activities associated with developing out of court statements proposed to be introduced at trial, or alternatively that the statement is not introduced.

* Empowering military judges to exclude hearsay evidence they deem to be unreliable.

* Authorizing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces to review decisions by the military commissions.

* Limiting the authority of the President to interpret the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions and makes that authority subject to congressional and judicial oversight.

* Clarifying the definition of war crimes in statute to include certain violations of the Geneva Conventions.

* Providing for expedited judicial review of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 to determine the constitutionally of its provisions.

The Restoring the Constitution Act would remedy much of the harm done to our nation's commitment to due process rights because of the Military Commissions Act, while still providing for military commissions that can bring our enemies to justice. We greatly appreciate your leadership on this issue and thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Senator Christopher J. Dodd

Senator Russ Feingold

Senator Robert Menendez

Senator Barbara Boxer

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