Political Quotes

“Madam President, I want to thank Chairman McCain and Ranking Member Reed for their efforts to include an anti-torture provision in the conference report on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, H.R. 1735. As a coauthor of this provision--Section 1045 of the conference report--I am pleased that there will now be clear limits on interrogation techniques so that the United States can never again conduct coercive and abusive interrogations or indefinite secret detentions. Section 1045 applies the restrictions on interrogations in the Army Field Manual under current law to the entire U.S. Government. The provision therefore extends to the whole of government what Congress did in 2005, by a vote of 90-9, with the Detainee Treatment Act, which banned the Department of Defense from using techniques not authorized by the Army Field Manual. The Detainee Treatment Act also banned across the government the use of cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment or punishment. Section 1045 also requires prompt access by the International Committee of the Red Cross to any detainee held by the U.S. Government. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to engage in a colloquy with the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Senator McCain, to provide clear legislative history as the coauthors of the amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.”