Democrats to revisit detainee issues (AP/CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democrats plan to use their newfound power to revisit one of the most contentious national security matters of 2006: Deciding what legal rights must be protected for detainees held in the war on terrorism.

In September, Congress passed a bill that gave President Bush wide latitude in interrogating and detaining captured enemy combatants. The legislation, backed by the White House, prompted three months of debate -- exposing Republican fissures and prompting angry rebukes by Democrats of the administration's interrogation policies.

With the November 7 elections handing control to the Democrats, the issue is far from settled. A group of Senate Democrats and one Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, want to resurrect the bill to fix at least one provision they say threatens the nation's credibility on human rights issues.
***
The proposed revisions to the terrorism detainee bill could surface in the new Congress early in the year, staffers say -- with new sympathetic ears in leadership and a slim Democratic majority in Congress.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, who will take control of the Senate as majority leader next year, "would support attempts to revisit some of the most extreme elements of the bill," including language stripping detainees of habeas corpus rights, although no immediate action is planned, said Reid spokesman Jim Manley.
***
more: http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/28/democrats.detainees.ap/index.html

[illinoisprogressive]

1. good

that is the worst legislation ever passed.