WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bill Delahunt (MA-10), Chair of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties lauded the House adoption of legislation last night that includes language they authored to ensure a single, uniform, baseline standard for all interrogations conducted by the U.S. Government. 

“The use of torture contradicts our values as Americans and our commitment to the protection of human rights.” Delahunt said. “By adopting these provisions from our legislation, the House of Representatives is making it clear that all forms of torture – such as waterboarding -- are wrong and will not be condoned."

“Today, the House has affirmed America’s values and our respect for the rule of law,” said Rep. Nadler.  “Torture, including practices like waterboarding, violates the legal and moral standards of all civilized nations.  While the notion that torture works has been glorified in television shows and movies, the simple truth is this: torture has never been an effective interrogation method.  Torture fails to make us safe, but it certainly makes us less free.”

The Nadler-Delahunt bill, H.R. 4114, the American Anti-Torture Act of 2007, would extend the first part of the McCain Amendment, which requires the Department of Defense to comply with the interrogation standards set forth in the Army Field Manual, to all government agencies.  This would include the CIA – the agency reportedly responsible for carrying out the Administration’s “enhanced” or “alternate” interrogation program and for operating secret overseas prisons.  

The Iraq funding bill contains the same language as the Nadler-Delahunt bill.  By extending the Army Field Manual standards to all agencies, this provision effectively outlaws waterboarding, a method of controlled drowning.  Like the McCain Amendment, the bill would not apply to the interrogation of individuals in custody under a criminal or immigration law of the United States.

At a recent hearing before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, expert interrogator Steve Kleinman, Col., US Air Force Reserve, testified that torture yields unreliable information and that the Army Field Manual provides sufficient guidance and leeway for effective interrogation. 

Other military experts, including General David Petraeus, similarly have spoken against torture and in favor of the Army Field Manual’s standards of conduct.

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