Mark Udall: “the Senate-passed bill before us today is identical to H.R. 6166. I could not support that bill when the House…”

“the Senate-passed bill before us today is identical to H.R. 6166. I could not support that bill when the House considered it earlier this week, and nothing that has happened since then has caused me to change my view that it should not be enacted. So, I must continue to oppose it. As I said earlier, I agree that Congress should establish clear statutory authority for detaining unlawful enemy combatants and using military tribunals to try them. In fact, I thought this should have been done long age because I took seriously the warnings of legal experts who said the system established by President Bush's unilateral Executive Order lacked departed too far from America's fundamental legal traditions to be immune from serious legal challenges. That is why for several years I have cosponsored bills to replace that Executive Order with a sound statute that would allow prosecutions to proceed without the same vulnerability to challenge. Unfortunately, until recently neither the president nor the Republican leadership thought there was a need for Congress to act--the president preferred to insist on unilateral assertions of executive authority, and the leadership was content with an indolent abdication of Congressional authority and responsibility.”