GOP divided over detainee rights
September 7, 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The GOP is once again divided over how the nation should treat its most dangerous terror suspects, setting up a showdown in Congress just weeks away from elections when all members will try to sell themselves as tough on terror....
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The president...sent Congress a legislative proposal that would aid the government in prosecuting terrorists using secret military tribunals. The military's top lawyers and a Justice Department official were expected to discuss the plan Thursday before the House Armed Services Committee....
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While Bush's proposal could allow the administration to begin prosecuting high-profile terrorists as Republicans fight to keep their majority in Congress, his plan also presents political risks.
GOP moderates and Democrats oppose some aspects of the proposal because they say it could set a dangerous precedent. The legislation would deny certain legal rights to defendants common in civilian and military courts, such as the ability to access all evidence used in the prosecution to mount an adequate defense and to ban hearsay and coerced testimony.
GOP moderates challenging the proposal include three senators with hefty credentials: Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam; Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a former military lawyer who still serves in the Air National Guard as a reserve judge; and Sen. John Warner of Virginia, chairman of the Armed Services Committee....
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/07/detainees.legislation.ap/index.html
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