Washington, Nov 27, 2001 - Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), Chairman of the Progressive Caucus and a bipartisan delegation of 39 members of Congress called upon the President to rescind his Executive Order establishing military tribunals in cases of suspected terrorists.

In the letter to President George W. Bush, the Members wrote, "We oppose the creation of military tribunals under your Executive Order, which would permit secret arrests, secret charges using secret evidence, secret prosecutions, secret witnesses, secret trials, secret convictions, secret sentencing and even secret executions."

The letter continues, "the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution establishes that "No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law," it is therefore a matter of protecting our Constitutional rights that defendants in terrorism cases receive full due process under the law. Furthermore, failure to subject suspected terrorists to the Constitutionally-based American system of justice will cause America to lose moral standing in the world. If an American was charged with a crime in a foreign country, we would demand nothing less than full due process."

Kucinich, ranking Member of the House National Security subcommittee of the Government Reform Committee, was joined by House Judiciary Committee Members Bob Barr (R-GA), John Conyers (D-MI), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Bobby Scott (D-VA), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) . Additional cosigners include: Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), George Miller (D-CA), Corrine Brown (D-FL), Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH), Danny Davis (D-IL), Diane Watson (D-CA), Patsy Mink (D-HI), Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), Neil Abercrombie (HI-01), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Albert Wynn (D-MD), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Diana DeGette (D-CO), John Olver (D-MA), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), John Lewis (D-GA), Lynn Rivers (D-MI), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), David Wu (D-OR), and Jose Serrano (D-NY)

Congressman Kucinich intends to lead an effort to stop the creation of military tribunals through the legislative process.