Washington, Oct 16 -

Putting politics ahead of national security, 162 House Democrats and 32 Senate Democrats voted AGAINST authorizing military tribunals for dangerous terrorist suspects, including al Qaeda operative and alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad.

Now we understand why. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) says the Military Commissions Act – set for President Bush’s signature tomorrow – is “pretty devastating.” It begs several important questions about why House and Senate Democrats would give in to the radical elements of their Party at the expense of America’s national security.

What’s so “devastating” about bringing dangerous terrorist suspects to justice? What’s so “devastating” about providing American military and civilian personnel with clear guidelines about how they may extract critical intelligence from terrorist suspects? What’s so “devastating” about protecting American troops on the battlefield by preventing sensitive classified evidence from falling into the hands of terrorists? And what’s so “devastating” about providing the President with another common sense tool for waging and winning the war against terrorism?

This isn’t the first time Capitol Hill Democrats have put politics ahead of the security of the American people. In fact, Capitol Hill Democrats have a long and troublesome record of voting to undermine America’s national security. For example:

• Democrats voted NO on establishing the Department of Homeland Security. (Roll Call 367, 7/26/02)

• Democrats voted YES to deny funding for law enforcement to carry out provisions of the PATRIOT Act. (Roll Call 339, 7/8/04)

• Democrats voted NO on the REAL ID Act, which works to prevent terrorists from obtaining driver’s licenses or state ID cards and traveling freely throughout the U.S. (Roll Call 31, 2/10/05)

• Democrats voted NO on reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act – and gloated about their attempts to “kill” it. (Roll Call 627, 12/14/05)

• Democrats voted NO on a resolution condemning illegal leaks of classified intelligence information that could impair the fight against terrorism. (Roll Call 106, 4/26/06)

• Democrats voted YES to gut the missile defense program and slash its funding, putting in jeopardy America’s efforts to build an effective missile defense shield. (Roll Call 142, 5/11/06)

• Democrats voted YES to cut more than $9 billion from the ballistic missile defense program. (Roll Call 155, 5/17/06)

• Democrats voted NO on authorizing the President’s terrorist surveillance program to allow American intelligence officials to intercept phone calls made by al Qaeda operatives overseas to their cohorts in the United States. (Roll Call 502, 9/29/06)