Political Quotes

“seeing our other colleague, Senator Graham, I yield the floor. But I also see Senator McCain. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona. Amendment No. 1566 Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I have a brief comment on the chairman's amendment. Leaving it in the hands of the Secretary of Defense is what caused the huge amount of problems we have today. I have here--in fact, thanks to the tenacity of the Senator from South Carolina--finally, after a year and a half, 2 years, the memoranda that were submitted by the uniformed JAGS when the rules for the treatment of prisoners were set up the first time, I say to my friend from Virginia. They all objected to it. They were overruled by the Secretary of Defense and the general counsel. So now, if I understand it, the amendment of my dear friend from Virginia is going to return that to the Secretary of Defense. I urge him to read these memoranda which we finally got thanks to, again, the Senator from South Carolina: treating OEF detainees inconsistently with the Conventions; arguably lowers the bar for the treatment of U.S. POWs in future conflicts, even when nations agree with the President's status determination. Many would view the more extreme interrogation techniques as violative of international law, other treaties, or customary international law; perhaps violative of their own domestic law.…”