[House Seal]





[Hawaiian Flag]
[-----------------------------------------]
October 18, 2006
 
Abercrombie Refutes Bush Statements on "Terrorist Trial" Legislation 
 

Washington, DC -- U.S. Representative Neil Abercrombie today issued the following point-by-point rebuttal of comments by President George W. Bush as he signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 into law this week in Washington D.C.  The legislation gives the President unprecedented authority to decide which techniques U.S. interrogators can legally use in questioning detainees suspected of terrorism or support for terrorist organizations.  The bill also gives the President the ability to interpret international standards for prisoner treatment when an act does not fall under the definition of a war crime, such as rape and torture, and bars detainees from going to federal court to protest their treatment and detention.

President George W. Bush:  "The bill I'm about to sign provides a way to deliver justice to the terrorists we have captured."

Congressman Neil Abercrombie:  "It is highly unlikely that a single terrorist will ever be convicted under this system because it will never pass Constitutional muster with the U.S. Supreme Court.  The most dangerous and dedicated terrorist could wind up walking away."

President George W. Bush:  "These military commissions will provide a fair trial, in which the accused are presumed innocent, have access to an attorney, and can hear all the evidence against them.  These military commissions are lawful, they are fair."

Congressman Neil Abercrombie:  "These commissions deny people some of the basic rights that Americans have fought and died for and the civilized world has valued for centuries.  Someone accused of a crime could be convicted on hearsay.  They would have no right to confront their accuser or see all the evidence against them."

President George W. Bush:  "This bill spells out specific, recognizable offenses that would be considered crimes in the handling of detainees so that our men and women who question captured terrorists can perform their duties to the fullest extent of the law."

Congressman Neil Abercrombie:  "This bill allows torture; some of the same acts that U.S. war crimes tribunals have convicted our enemies for using in past wars."

President George W. Bush:  "This bill complies with both the spirit and the letter of our international obligations."

Congressman Neil Abercrombie:  "This legislation gives the President the power to reinterpret rights and definitions that have been settled and accepted for more than a half century.  This vote could return to haunt us when American soldiers are tortured because their rights under the Geneva Convention are reinterpreted by an enemy."

President George W. Bush:  "The legality of the system I established was challenged in the court, and the Supreme Court ruled that the military commissions needed to be explicitly authorized by the United States Congress."

Congressman Neil Abercrombie:  "In their headlong rush to give this President whatever he demands and go into the November election posturing as "tough on terror", the majority in Congress is willing to make the administration's illegal actions legal - after the fact."

President George W. Bush:  "As I've said before, the United States does not torture.  It's against our laws and it's against our values."

Congressman Neil Abercrombie:  "The legislation sells out the values that have made America unique among all the countries on earth.  It may be able to make his actions legal.  It cannot make them right."

-30-