The legislation, passed by nearly a straight party vote, gives President Bush unprecedented authority to decide which techniques U.S. interrogators can legally use in questioning detainees suspected of terrorism or support for terrorist organizations.  The bill also gives the President the ability to interpret    international standards for prisoner treatment when an act does not fall under the definition of a war crime, such as rape and torture, and bars detainees from going to federal court to protest their treatment and detention.

“We all want terrorists and suspected terrorists to be brought to justice; to be held accountable for their actions.  That is what makes the Military Commissions Act not only so disappointing, but so misguided. It is highly unlikely that a single terrorist will ever be convicted under this system because it will never pass Constitutional muster with the U.S. Supreme Court. The most dangerous and dedicated terrorist brought to trial under this system could wind up walking away.”   

“In their headlong rush to give this President whatever he demands and to go into the November election posturing as “tough on terror,” the majority in Congress is willing to make the administration’s illegal actions legal—after the fact— and sell out the values that have made America unique among all the countries on earth.  They may be able to make his actions legal.  They cannot make them right.

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