Political Quotes

“I would like to remind my colleagues that provisions within the conference report impact our civil liberties and should have been referred to the Judiciary Committee for review. The conference report dangerously expands existing authorizations pertaining to individuals detained by the United States government and the military. First, Section 1021 grants broad discretionary authority that could permit the indefinite detention of United States citizens, areas of law that should have been referred to the Judiciary Committee. Secondly, Section 1021 is not the current law of the land and instead is new and dangerously extensive detention authority that has its origins in case law that never involved questions of whether American citizens could be indefinitely detained. Third, Section 1022 violates due process by permitting indefinite military detention without charge or trial. Next, the conference report ignores the concerns of members of our intelligence community, domestic law enforcement, and former generals who have opposed these provisions because they would undermine the ability of the government to interrogate and prosecute suspected terrorists. Lastly, the conference report displaces the legal expertise necessary for trying successful terrorism cases. First, Section 1021 grants broad discretionary authority that could permit the indefinite detention of United States citizens.…”