By PAMELA HESS, Associated Press Writer
December 14, 2007
WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans blocked a bill Friday that
would restrict the interrogation methods the CIA can use against
terrorism suspects.
The legislation, part of a measure authorizing the government's
intelligence activities for 2008, had been approved a day earlier
by the House and sent to the Senate for what was supposed to
be final action. The bill would require the CIA to adhere to
the Army's field manual on interrogation, which bans waterboarding,
mock executions and other harsh interrogation methods.
Senate opponents of that provision, however, discovered a
potentially fatal parliamentary flaw: The ban on harsh questioning
tactics had not been in the original versions of the intelligence
bill passed by the House and Senate. Instead, it was a last-minute
addition during negotiations between the two sides to write
a compromise bill, a move that could violate Senate rules.
The rule is intended to protect legislation from last-minute
amendments that neither house of Congress has had time to fully
consider.
Although it's not unheard of for new language to be added
in House-Senate negotiations, the rules allow such a move to
be challenged and the language stripped from the bill.
In a separate development related to CIA interrogations, Attorney
General Michael Mukasey refused Friday to give Congress details
of the government's investigation into the CIA's destruction
of videotapes of interrogations of terror suspects. He said
doing so could raise questions about whether the inquiry is
vulnerable to political pressures.
In letters to leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees,
Mukasey also said there is no need right now to appoint a special
prosecutor to lead the investigation. The preliminary inquiry
currently is being handled by the Justice Department and the
CIA's inspector general.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.,
expressed disappointment and said the tapes would be a major
topic at his committee's hearing next week to consider the
nomination of U.S. District Judge Mark Filip for deputy attorney
general.
The Senate was prevented from voting on the intelligence bill
because Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., placed a hold on it while
the GOP procedural challenge goes forward.
"I think quite frankly applying the Army field manual
to the CIA would be ill-advised and would destroy a program
that I think is lawful and helps the country," Graham
said in an interview.
If the Senate were to approve a stripped-down authorization
bill next week, it would then have to go back to the House
for another vote.
The field manual amendment was pushed by Democratic Sen. Dianne
Feinstein of California and backed by two Senate Republicans,
Olympia Snowe of Maine and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.
Feinstein defended the provision and said the Senate should
debate it. "The Army Field Manual has been an effective
guide for the military," she said. "It was very carefully
written and reviewed. It has not come under criticism, unlike
the constant criticism in the CIA arena .... It is my belief
that America is not well served by torture."
The White House threatened to veto the bill this week over
the interrogation restrictions and a list of other issues.
The CIA denies that it tortures detainees.
The Army field manual, adopted in 2006, prohibits forcing
detainees to be naked, perform sexual acts, or pose in a sexual
manner; placing hoods or sacks over detainees' heads or duct
tape over their eyes; beating, shocking, or burning detainees;
threatening them with military dogs; exposing them to extreme
heat or cold; conducting mock executions; depriving them of
food, water, or medical care; and waterboarding.
Waterboarding is a particularly harsh form of interrogation
that involves strapping down a prisoner, covering his mouth
with plastic or cloth and pouring water over his face. The
prisoner quickly begins to inhale water, causing the sensation
of drowning.
The CIA is known to have waterboarded three prisoners but
has not used the technique since 2003, according to a government
official familiar with the program who spoke on condition of
anonymity because the information is classified. CIA Director
Michael Hayden prohibited waterboarding in 2006.
The White House gave the CIA special latitude to conduct harsh
or "enhanced" interrogations in 2002 to break down
recalcitrant terror suspects.
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