Washington, D.C. Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-Venice), Chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence & Terrorism Risk Assessment, issued the following statement following  comments made today in a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing about briefings she may have received while Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee from 2003-2006: 

In early 2003, I received a briefing which, among other things, covered some aspects of US interrogation policy – and I immediately raised concerns.

In a recently declassified letter sent on February 10, 2003 to the General Counsel of the CIA I wrote:

“… what was described [in the briefing] raises profound policy questions and I am concerned about whether these have been as rigorously examined as the legal questions.  I would like to know what kind of policy review took place and what questions were examined.  In particular, I would like to know whether the most senior levels of the White House have determined that these practices are consistent with the principles and policies of the United States.  Have enhanced techniques been authorized and approved by the President?”

I continued to raise questions in a series of closed sessions with the Administration.  Due to the highly classified nature of the briefings, I could not discuss the substance with other Members of Congress or the public.  But in early 2005, in a speech at Georgetown University, I called on the White House to put all interrogation procedures under a clear legal framework.

I then introduced in HR 3985 to prohibit cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.  The Detainee Treatment Act became law in late 2005.  And I urged the Administration to brief the entire Intelligence Committee on interrogation issues; those briefings began in September 2006.

I opposed the 2006 Military Commissions Act, among other reasons, because it failed to regulate CIA interrogations, and I spoke on the House floor in 2007 in support of legislation requiring the CIA to be subject to the Army Field Manual procedures relating to interrogations.