Jay Rockefeller: “I almost have no words to praise the Senator from Rhode Island for the eloquence and strength of his speech, which was…”

“I almost have no words to praise the Senator from Rhode Island for the eloquence and strength of his speech, which was not only grounded in very deep substance but was delivered with elegiac nature that both culled the human spirit as well as grounded the futility of torture. I congratulate him. I also rise strongly in support of section 327 of the intelligence authorization conference report. I recognize it will be controversial. I don't care. It is important that some background on this section be provided. Some of it has been this morning. During the conference on the authorization bill, the conferees adopted an amendment that would require the intelligence community to conduct its interrogation in accordance with the terms of the U.S. Army Field Manual. The full membership of the House Intelligence Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee served on the conference committee. So it was a majority of those two committees that came to that conclusion. Section 327 of the intelligence authorization conference report directly parallels the provision in the Detainee Treatment Act that forbids subjecting anyone in Department of Defense custody to any treatment or technique of interrogation not authorized by and listed in the U.S. Army Field Manual on intelligence interrogation. Section 327 applies these same restrictions to the intelligence community at large.”