Rep. Shuler Votes to Override President's Veto of Intel Authorization
Legislation Would Have Banned Waterboarding, Other Torture
Representative Heath Shuler today voted to override President Bush's veto of the Intelligence Authorization Act, H.R. 2082. The President vetoed the Intelligence Authorization Act because it banned civilian agencies from using methods of torture during interrogations. The Intelligence Authorization Act would have required civilian intelligence agencies to abide by the U.S. Army Field Manual, which already
bans torture techniques, like waterboarding.
"I, like every other member of Congress, am committed to protecting our nation from terrorism. Our generals, including General Petraeus himself, however, have told us that torture is an ineffective tool in gaining useful and actionable information," said Rep.
Shuler. "I am committed to providing our intelligence community with the tools and resources they need, but America must be a moral leader in the world."
In an open letter to troops in Iraq in May 2007 General Petraeus stated:
What sets us apart from our enemies in this fight. . . . is how we behave. In
everything we do, we must observe the standards and values that dictate that we treat noncombatants and detainees with dignity and respect
. Some may argue that we would be more effective if we sanctioned torture or other expedient methods to obtain information from the enemy. They would be wrong. Beyond the basic fact that such actions are illegal, history shows that they also are frequently neither useful nor necessary. Certainly, extreme physical action can make someone "talk;" however, what the individual says may be of questionable value. In fact, our experience in applying the interrogation standards laid out in the Army Field Manual (2-22.3) on Human Intelligence Collector Operations that was published last year shows that the techniques in the manual work effectively and humanely in eliciting information from detainees.
The override vote failed to attain the necessary two-thirds vote required to override President Bush's veto.