John Cornyn: “as we all know, symbols are important. Symbols, even more than our words, are powerful communicators of intent, of…”

“as we all know, symbols are important. Symbols, even more than our words, are powerful communicators of intent, of value, and of commitment. We know, for example, what the pictures that have recently come to light of the abuse of a few Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison have communicated in a way that mere words could not. Indeed, out of all of the terrible consequences of that criminal activity by a few, there has been a positive. I believe that positive is, No. 1, the commitment of the Department of Defense, from the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, all the way down to the troops in the prison themselves, to make sure we get to the facts, that we hold those guilty accountable, and that we do so in a public way which demonstrates that in a democracy we do things in a way that people can judge for themselves whether they are being handled appropriately. I trust by the time we get through with these investigations--about six of them in all--and by the time the prosecutions of the seven who have been charged with criminal conduct, misconduct, and possibly others who will be charged as well, by the time we get through, the world will see our commitment to the rule of law and to minimum standards of human decency.”