MILITARY COMMISSIONS ACT OF 2006 -- (House of Representatives - September 27, 2006)
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Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, Congress has an obligation under the Constitution to enact legislation that creates fair trials for accused terrorists that will be upheld by the courts. We also have an obligation to protect our troops that fall into enemy hands, and to uphold American values and the rule of law. Finally, even during wartime, the President must work with Congress and the courts to uphold our Constitution. In June, the Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld struck down the President's military commissions, since they violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions. The Court noted that Congress, not the president, has the authority under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution to ``define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations.''
I strongly support our government's efforts to isolate, track down, and ultimately kill or capture suspected terrorists who are planning terrorist attacks against the United States. We must bring these terrorists to justice swiftly. We must also strengthen our efforts to protect the homeland by providing additional resources to law enforcement and emergency services personnel who are charged with disrupting and responding to a terrorist attack in the United States. As a former member of the Homeland Security Committee, I have fought hard to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and to distribute our homeland security funds on the basis of actual threats and vulnerabilities.
I am therefore extremely disappointed, Mr. Speaker, that the House leadership failed to reach out to members on both sides of the aisle in crafting this legislation. We should heed the warning given by our former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who states that ``the world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism.''
The 9/11 Commission recommended that ``the United States should engage its friends to develop a common coalition approach toward the detention and humane treatment of captured terrorists. New principles might draw upon Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions ..... Allegations that the United States abused prisoners in its custody make it harder to build the diplomatic, political, and military alliances the [U.S.] government will need.'' This legislation today undermines the protections of the Geneva Convention, and by weakening our moral authority makes it harder for us to work with allies to win the war on terrorism and protect Americans.
I share the concerns of the many current and former military officers that testified to Congress that any weakening of these protections will place American soldiers at risk if they are captured overseas. I am pleased that last December Congress adopted Senator McCain's legislation and outlawed the use of torture, and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by U.S. personnel, which would endanger the treatment of our American soldiers overseas. I am disappointed, therefore, that this legislation allows the use of statements obtained by some this prohibited behavior to be admissible in court.
Finally, this legislation eliminates the fundamental legal right of habeas corpus, which would permit our government to hold detainees indefinitely without charge, trial, or the right to an independent hearing to weigh the evidence against the accused terrorist.
We must join with our allies to win the war on terrorism and bring terrorists to justice. Our Constitution contains the very values we hold dear and that makes us proud to be Americans, and which motivate our soldiers to lay down their lives in defense of this country. I have sworn to uphold and defend our Constitution and to protect our democracy. This legislation takes a step backward, is inconsistent with the rule of law, and will make it harder to work with our allies to build an effective coalition to defeat terrorism. I therefore will vote against this legislation.
Five years after the 9/11 attacks, it is inexcusable that not a single one of the terrorists who planned the 9/11 attacks has been brought to trial. I am hopeful that the Senate will improve this legislation as Congress continues to discharge its constitutional duty to create military commissions that are consistent with the rule of law and that will result in convictions of terrorists that will be upheld by our courts.
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