Congressman Steve Buyer - Working for Indiana - News Release

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  For Immediate Release: Tuesday, October 17, 2006
 
BUYER ATTENDS WHITE HOUSE BILL SIGNING
 

President signs into law military commissions bill

 
 
Washington, D.C.The Global War on Terror took a major step forward with the signing into law of the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Congressman Steve Buyer (IN-04) joined President George W. Bush at the bill signing that creates the judicial system to prosecute alien unlawful enemy combatants engaged in hostilities against the United States.   

“Five years ago, when President Bush stood on the rubble of the World Trade Center, he told all Americans and the world that he would find the terrorists and bring them to justice. This legislation keeps that commitment. We now have the tools necessary to prosecute and convict those who seek to harm us,” Buyer commented. 

In June 2006, in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional military commissions as established by President Bush through an executive order on November 13, 2001. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 establishes the rules and procedures to try alien unlawful enemy combatants engaged in hostilities against the United States. 

Buyer is a 26 year veteran of the U.S. Army Reserve, who currently serves as a Colonel in the Judge Advocate Generals Corps and was an interrogator at the Western Enemy Prisoner of War Camp during the first Gulf War. While in theater, he created the process to determine the status of military detainees under the Geneva Convention. He initially had some concerns with the legislation, including the treatment of classified evidence. After discussions with members of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate and the White House, these concerns were addressed and Buyer voted in favor of the bill last month.  

“I thanked the President for working with me to create a legal process to bring the terrorists to justice. I was able to use my own military legal experience to help in the drafting of the rules and procedures. This legislation incorporates the best of federal criminal law, Uniform Code of Military Justice, and international law, creating a legal process to bring the terrorists to justice.  It strikes the necessary balance between protecting national security interests, while ensuring that the proceedings are conducted with all indispensable judicial guarantees,” stated Buyer.

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