Merkley Backs Bill Requiring CIA to Follow the Army Field Manual
PORTLAND—Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, today said he supported the provisions of the Intelligence Authorization Act that will require the CIA to follow the Army Field Manual when interrogating detainees. The Army Field Manual bars the use of waterboarding, a technique long regarded as torture.
So far, Senator Gordon Smith and Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, have refused to take a stand against waterboarding. In October, Merkley called for Smith to explain his position on the issue. Mukasey is expected to face similar questions on the issue at the Judiciary Committee hearing.
“While Gordon Smith refuses to answer Oregonians’ questions about whether or not he believes waterboarding is torture, his silence really is deafening,” Merkley said. “This isn’t an abstract question. This is about the safety of hundreds of thousands of our sons and daughters serving overseas. It is about preserving the ideals that have made America great.”
In 2005, waterboarding was banned by the Detainee Treatment Act. That law required all uniformed and civilian interrogators to use only the interrogation techniques approved in the Army Field Manual. A year later, Congress gave the President the authority to exempt the CIA from that law, which he did.
Gordon Smith voted in favor of the bill giving the President that authority, and in favor of Mukasey’s cabinet nomination, cancelling out Senator Ron Wyden’s vote on both counts. Both votes indicate that Gordon Smith stands hand in hand with President Bush supporting torture rather than with the American people, who support the Geneva Convention.
“America has no moral standing to demand the humane treatment of one of our own if we fail to honor the same standard of humane treatment,” Merkley said. “Torture is always wrong. If Gordon Smith cannot grasp that simple principle, he has no business representing Oregon in the United States Senate.”
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Jeff Merkley was born in the small town of Myrtle Creek, Oregon, the son of a sawmill worker. He's fought hard for working families in Oregon and he's ready to help lead America.
As Oregon's Speaker of the House, Jeff Merkley led one of the most effective, efficient and progressive legislative sessions in Oregon's history - with big achievements for schools, ethics, health care, jobs, alternative energy, and protections for working families.
Discover why Jeff Merkley is ready to lead.
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