Floor Statements
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STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN AMENDMENT ON ARMY FIELD MANUAL
July 25, 2005
Washington, DC - Senator McCain delivered the following statement on the floor of the senate today:
MR. McCAIN. Mr. President, I rise to offer an amendment that would establish the Army Field Manual as the uniform standard for the interrogation of Department of Defense detainees and I ask for its immediate consideration. I also ask that Senator Collins . . . be added as a cosponsor.
Let me begin by noting that the Army Field Manual and its various editions have served America well, through wars against both regular and irregular foes. The Manual embodies the values Americans have embraced for generations, while preserving the ability of our interrogators to extract critical intelligence from ruthless foes. Never has this been more important than today, in the midst of the war on terror.
To fight terrorism it is obvious that we must obtain intelligence, but we have to ensure that it is reliable and acquired in a way that is humane. To do otherwise not only offends our national morals, but undermines our efforts to protect the nation's security. Abuse of prisoners harms - not helps - us in the war on terror, because inevitably these abuses become public. When they do, the cruel actions of a few darken the reputation of our honorable country in the eyes of millions. Mistreatment of our prisoners also endangers U.S. service members who might be captured by the enemy - if not in this war, then in the next.
The Army Field Manual authorizes interrogation techniques that have proven effective in extracting life-saving information from the most hardened enemy prisoners. It also recognizes that torture and cruel treatment are ineffective methods, because they induce prisoners to say what their interrogators want to hear, even if it is not true, while bringing discredit upon the United States. It is consistent with our laws and, most importantly, our values. Let us not forget that al-Qaeda sought not just to destroy American lives on September 11, but American values - our way of life and all we cherish. Now, as our friends in London and elsewhere find themselves confronting the same evil, preserving the common values we hold dear is more important than ever. We fight not just to preserve our lives and liberties but also our morals, and we will never allow the terrorists to take those away. In this war that we must win - that we will win - we must never simply fight evil with evil.
The amendment I am offering would establish the Army Field Manual as the standard for interrogation of all detainees held in DOD custody. The Manual has been developed by the Executive Branch for its own uses, and a new edition, written to take into account the needs of the war on terror and with a new classified annex is due to be issued soon. My amendment would not set the Field Manual in stone - it could be changed at any time. But it would require that the Congressional defense committees be informed 30 days prior to a revision. And of course, the revisions would have to be consistent with our laws and treaty obligations.
The advantage of setting a standard for interrogation based on the Field Manual is to cut down on the significant level of confusion that still exists with respect to which interrogation techniques are allowed. Two weeks ago, the Armed Services Committee held hearings with a slew of high-level Defense Department officials, from regional commanders, to judge advocate generals from the various branches, to the Department's deputy general counsel. A chief topic of discussion was what specific interrogation techniques are permitted in what environments, with which DOD detainees, by whom, and when. And the answers included a whole lot of confusion. We got a bunch of contradictory answers, several "I'd have to take a look at that," and a few "Let me get back to you." So let's think about that for a second. If the Pentagon's top minds can't sort these matters out after exhaustive debate and preparation, how in the world do we expect our enlisted men and women to do so?
Confusion results in the kinds of messes that will once again give America a black eye around the world, and will make the war on terror that much harder to fight. We need a clear, simple, and consistent standard, and we have it in the Army Field Manual on Interrogation. That's not just my opinion, but that of many more distinguished military legal minds than mine. I would refer you to a letter expressing strong support for this amendment, signed by eleven former high-ranking military officers, including RADM John Hutson and RADM Don Guter, who each served as the Navy's top JAG, and LTGEN Claudia Kennedy, who served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Army Intelligence. These and other distinguished officers believe that the abuses at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and elsewhere took place in part because our soldiers received ambiguous instructions, which in some cases authorized treatment that went beyond what the Field Manual allows, and that, had the Manual been followed across the board, we could have avoided the prisoner abuse scandal. Mr. President, wouldn't any of us do whatever we could to have prevented that? I say let's pass this amendment and follow the Manual consistently from now on. Our service members deserve no less.
Mr. President, let me mention one other provision of this amendment. It simply requires that each individual detained in a DOD facility who is a national of a foreign country be registered with the International Committee of the Red Cross. That's it. Just registered. This will help us eliminate the problem of "ghost detainees" we faced in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, in which "other government agencies" held unregistered detainees in a facility operated by our military. I believe this provision to be just basic common sense, and I can hardly see how anyone could object, though I don't doubt the sensitivity of my colleagues.
Mr. President, let me just close by noting that I hold no brief for the prisoners. I do hold a brief for the reputation of the United States of America. We are Americans, and we hold ourselves to humane standards of treatment of people no matter how evil or terrible they may be. To do otherwise, as I have noted, undermines our security, but it also undermines our greatness as a nation. We are not simply any other country. We stand for something more in the world - a moral mission, one of freedom and democracy and human rights at home and abroad. We are better than these terrorists, and we will we win. The enemy we fight has no respect for human life or human rights. They don't deserve our sympathy. But this isn't about who they are. This is about who we are. These are the values that distinguish us from our enemies.
President Bush understands that the war on terror is ultimately a battle of ideas, a battle we will win by spreading and standing firmly for the values of decency, democracy, and the rule of law. I stand with him in this commitment. And by applying to ourselves the basic standards we rightly preach to others, we will only increase our effectiveness as the world's ultimate champion of liberty.
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