Levin-McCain Statement on Senate Armed Services Committee Report on the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody

WASHINGTON – Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) released the following statement today:

“Late yesterday, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved its report of the Committee’s inquiry into the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody, focusing on the influence of SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) techniques on the treatment of detainees.

“During the course of the inquiry, Committee staff interviewed more than 70 individuals and reviewed hundreds of thousands of documents produced by the Department of Defense and other executive branch agencies. The Committee held two public hearings on the investigation, two closed hearings to take testimony from subpoenaed witnesses and one closed meeting to take witness testimony.

“The Committee’s report has been submitted to the Department of Defense for a classification review, with the request that the Department’s review be expedited. The Committee’s inquiry uncovered significant new information and we urged the Department to promptly complete the classification review.”