|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 2008
|
|
|
Contact: Zach Goldberg
202-225-5801 (office) |
|
HOLT STATEMENT ON HOUSE VOTE TO OVERRIDE
BUSH’S VETO OF INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT
|
|
|
(Washington, DC) – Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) today issued the following statement on Tuesday’s vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to override President Bush’s veto of the Fiscal Year 2008 Intelligence Authorization Act, which contained language prohibiting all American government personnel from using torture on detainees. The bill would invest in human intelligence, counterterrorism operations, and analysis and help ensure that policymakers have access to accurate, timely, and actionable intelligence. When the bill passed in 2007, Holt also highlighted provisions aimed at attracting and retaining people with foreign languages and cultures, bringing speed to security clearance processes for new hires, and establishing a multilevel security clearance process.
“Intelligence is among the most important functions of our government. A good intelligence system can save lives by preventing war, or should war come, by helping to win the war as quickly as possible. But a flawed intelligence system can be dangerous – as when intelligence is manipulated so as to take America to war under false pretenses, or when the fearsome powers the government are turned on our own citizens without checks and balances. Indeed, it’s because this President opposes checks and balances on our intelligence system that we’re force to have this veto override today.
“Let’s be clear: American personnel – civilian or military – should never engage in interrogation practices that amount to torture. The provision the President objects to would simply put the entire U.S. government under one standard for interrogating detainees: the Army Field Manual. The heads of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the FBI have testified that the non-torture guidelines in this bill are adequate for their people to follow in interrogation of dangerous people.
“If the President were serious about restoring our reputation in the world and about providing moral and legal clarity for all government employees involved in the handling or interrogating detainees, he would never have vetoed this bill. Providing that moral and legal clarity is our Constitutional obligation, and to that end I urge my colleagues to join me in voting to override the President’s veto.
|
|
|
|
