Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Senate, White House at odds over suspect treatment rules
By Liz Sidoti, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, July 26, 2005 | No comments posted.
WASHINGTON - The Senate faces a potential showdown with the White House over efforts to set rules for the treatment of terror suspects and delay military base closings.
Senate Republicans have offered such amendments to a bill setting Defense Department policy for next year. That's despite the Bush administration's threat to veto the entire measure if any of those amendments are included.
The Senate was debating the defense bill in its final week of work before a monthlong break, but it may not complete work on it until returning in September. However, senators still could vote on base-closing and detainee amendments this week, perhaps as early as today.
On the menu are separate amendments by GOP Sens. John Warner of Virginia, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. The measures would standardize interrogation and prosecution of war-on-terror detainees in U.S. custody.
Talk of legislation regulating the treatment of detainees has percolated on Capitol Hill since last year, when the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal in Iraq surfaced. Efforts to craft such legislation has gained steam over the past few months amid fresh allegations of abuse and torture at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
White House lobbying against the proposals intensified late last week. Vice President Dick Cheney met with the three Republicans on Thursday to object. McCain, himself a POW during the Vietnam War, said the meeting was the second between Cheney and top Armed Services members over administration concerns about the defense bill.
The administration says it will oppose any restrictions on the president's ability to conduct the war on terrorism and protect Americans.
Democrats have offered their own amendments, including one by Sen. Carl Levin, the top Democrat on Armed Services, that would set up an independent commission to review detention and interrogation practices.
The White House opposes it, and Senate Republicans say they are pushing their detainee legislation in part as an alternative to the creation of such a panel.
"I think it's important to those who want to consider that commission to see that some members are taking very affirmative steps" on the detainee issue, Warner told reporters.
One McCain amendment would make interrogation techniques outlined in the Army field manual - and any future versions of it - standard for treatment of all detainees in the Defense Department's custody. Warner introduced a watered-down version of McCain's measure that would give the defense secretary the authority to set such rules. But Warner denied bending to White House pressure.
Another McCain amendment would expressly prohibit cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody no matter where they are held.
Graham's amendment would define "enemy combatant" and put into law the procedures the Bush administration already has in place for prosecuting detainees at Guantanamo. The amendment would, in effect, provide congressional approval for the Bush administration's legal policies, including those for holding detainees indefinitely.
Also a target of White House ire are amendments by Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who is trying to save Ellsworth Air Force Base, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers furious over Pentagon plans to close military bases in their states.
The administration says Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would recommend a veto if amendments are approved that "weaken, delay or repeal" the base-closing process.
One of Thune's amendments would require the Pentagon to complete several operational reviews and return U.S. troops from Iraq before Congress signs off on the final version of the base-closing plan.
Another would allow Congress to remove bases from the Pentagon's list of proposed closures once those conditions are met. A third would extend whistleblower protections to military members who disagree with the Pentagon's recommendations and want to share that information with the commission reviewing the proposed closures.
---
On the Net:
Senate Armed Services Committee: http://armed-services.senate.gov/
Defense Department: http://www.dod.gov
Senate Republicans have offered such amendments to a bill setting Defense Department policy for next year. That's despite the Bush administration's threat to veto the entire measure if any of those amendments are included.
The Senate was debating the defense bill in its final week of work before a monthlong break, but it may not complete work on it until returning in September. However, senators still could vote on base-closing and detainee amendments this week, perhaps as early as today.
On the menu are separate amendments by GOP Sens. John Warner of Virginia, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. The measures would standardize interrogation and prosecution of war-on-terror detainees in U.S. custody.
Talk of legislation regulating the treatment of detainees has percolated on Capitol Hill since last year, when the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal in Iraq surfaced. Efforts to craft such legislation has gained steam over the past few months amid fresh allegations of abuse and torture at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
White House lobbying against the proposals intensified late last week. Vice President Dick Cheney met with the three Republicans on Thursday to object. McCain, himself a POW during the Vietnam War, said the meeting was the second between Cheney and top Armed Services members over administration concerns about the defense bill.
The administration says it will oppose any restrictions on the president's ability to conduct the war on terrorism and protect Americans.
Democrats have offered their own amendments, including one by Sen. Carl Levin, the top Democrat on Armed Services, that would set up an independent commission to review detention and interrogation practices.
The White House opposes it, and Senate Republicans say they are pushing their detainee legislation in part as an alternative to the creation of such a panel.
"I think it's important to those who want to consider that commission to see that some members are taking very affirmative steps" on the detainee issue, Warner told reporters.
One McCain amendment would make interrogation techniques outlined in the Army field manual - and any future versions of it - standard for treatment of all detainees in the Defense Department's custody. Warner introduced a watered-down version of McCain's measure that would give the defense secretary the authority to set such rules. But Warner denied bending to White House pressure.
Another McCain amendment would expressly prohibit cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody no matter where they are held.
Graham's amendment would define "enemy combatant" and put into law the procedures the Bush administration already has in place for prosecuting detainees at Guantanamo. The amendment would, in effect, provide congressional approval for the Bush administration's legal policies, including those for holding detainees indefinitely.
Also a target of White House ire are amendments by Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who is trying to save Ellsworth Air Force Base, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers furious over Pentagon plans to close military bases in their states.
The administration says Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would recommend a veto if amendments are approved that "weaken, delay or repeal" the base-closing process.
One of Thune's amendments would require the Pentagon to complete several operational reviews and return U.S. troops from Iraq before Congress signs off on the final version of the base-closing plan.
Another would allow Congress to remove bases from the Pentagon's list of proposed closures once those conditions are met. A third would extend whistleblower protections to military members who disagree with the Pentagon's recommendations and want to share that information with the commission reviewing the proposed closures.
---
On the Net:
Senate Armed Services Committee: http://armed-services.senate.gov/
Defense Department: http://www.dod.gov
The comments below are from users of theworldlink.com and do not necessarily represent the views of The World or Lee Enterprises. Participation Guidelines
Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Not already registered?
The World welcomes your comments about stories, and we encourage a robust dialogue on this site. All comments must meet reasonable standards of decency and civility.
Please follow these basic rules:
- No defamatory comments about individuals or businesses.
- No deliberately false information.
- No obscenity or racially offensive language.
- No harassment, verbal abuse, threats or personal attacks.
- No information that invades another person's privacy.
- No business solicitations or charitable solicitations.
Comments that violate these standards will not be posted. Users with repeated violations may be banned from future posting.Comments will be approved throughout the day during business hours. After hours and weekend comments may not appear until the following business day. It may take a couple of hours before comments are approved.
The World generally does not edit comments, but we reserve the right to edit any comment that does not meet our standards.
Close Guidelines