Proof Congress can still do good
The Senate voted Wednesday to ban cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of military detainees by all American personnel. The amendment to the Defense appropriations bill was offered by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), and was endorsed by former Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The vote was an overwhelming 90-9. These nine Republican senators shamefully voted against the measure:
- Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO)
- Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO)
- Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
- Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK)
- Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)
- Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
- Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)
The White House is threatening to veto the whole bill if it contains the amendment. I'd be quite surprised if the first veto this president makes since being elected is to a Defense bill while we're at war.
UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan has the text of the amendment here. I should have posted it earlier.
posted by Scott @ 6:30 PM
3 Comments:
My faith in elected officials is somewhat rehabilitated.
If we add Rumsfeld to that list of senators, we'll have enough for a good size pyramid.
Actually, I read the amendment itself before posting this. If you want a definition, subsection (d) covers this.
"(d) Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Defined.—In this section, the term "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment" means the cruel, unusual, and inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, as defined in the United States Reservations, Declarations and Understandings to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment done at New York, December 10, 1984."
As for the namecalling, I think calling a vote against this shameful is appropriate.
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