Legislation Would Have Banned Waterboarding, Other Torture
Washington, D.C. – Representative Heath Shuler today voted to override President
Bush’s veto of the Intelligence Authorization Act, H.R. 2082. The President vetoed the
Intelligence Authorization Act because it banned civilian agencies from using methods of
torture during interrogations. The Intelligence Authorization Act would have required
civilian intelligence agencies to abide by the U.S. Army Field Manual, which already
bans torture techniques, like waterboarding.
“I, like every other member of Congress, am committed to protecting our nation from
terrorism. Our generals, including General Petraeus himself, however, have told us that
torture is an ineffective tool in gaining useful and actionable information,” said Rep.
Shuler. “I am committed to providing our intelligence community with the tools and
resources they need, but America must be a moral leader in the world.”
In an open letter to troops in Iraq in May 2007 General Petraeus stated:
What sets us apart from our enemies in this fight. . . . is how we behave. In
everything we do, we must observe the standards and values that dictate that we
treat noncombatants and detainees with dignity and respect…. Some may argue
that we would be more effective if we sanctioned torture or other expedient
methods to obtain information from the enemy. They would be wrong. Beyond
the basic fact that such actions are illegal, history shows that they also are
frequently neither useful nor necessary. Certainly, extreme physical action can
make someone “talk;” however, what the individual says may be of questionable
value. In fact, our experience in applying the interrogation standards laid out in
the Army Field Manual (2-22.3) on Human Intelligence Collector Operations that
was published last year shows that the techniques in the manual work effectively
and humanely in eliciting information from detainees.
The override vote failed to attain the necessary two-thirds vote required to override
President Bush’s veto.
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Download: Rep. Shuler Votes to Override President’s Veto of Intel Authorization