For Immediate
Release: May 18, 2012
WASHINGTON,
DC – Today, Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) inserted the below statement into
the Congressional Record of the U.S. House of Representatives regarding the
Smith-Amash amendment of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. The bipartisan amendment
would have struck provisions enacted in the same
law for Fiscal Year 2012 that empowered the
president to indefinitely detain American citizens without due process of the
law.
“Last
year, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal
Year 2012 that granted unprecedented powers to the president, including ability
to indefinitely detain without trial American citizens suspected of terrorism.
I strongly opposed this provision and voted against passage of the entire Act.
“On December 15, 2011, after the bill had passed, I spoke on the House floor condemning
these dangerous and unnecessary measures. I was concerned that our civil
liberties would erode if we leave the interpretation of the law to the
commander-in-chief. As we continue our
counter-terrorism efforts at home and abroad, we are leaving enormous
leeway to the current president, the next president, and the president after
that to gather intelligence and detain individuals without charge or trial.
“Today, government surveillance is more intrusive than ever. Congress, which once
seemed poised to shut Guantánamo Bay, has instead passed bipartisan law after
law ensuring its indefinite operations. In my district, the Seattle Police
Department recently acquired surveillance drones, but no policies have yet been
drafted to guide their use. It is not clear whether these drones will be used
only to collect evidence on specific crimes or become an invasive,
all-encompassing surveillance operation without proper oversight.
“This week, we’re voting on the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2013, and the House had an
opportunity to challenge some of these far-reaching provisions in current law.
“Earlier this morning, I voted for the Smith-Amash amendment to the FY13 NDAA,
which would strike Section 1022 of the FY12 NDAA and amend Section 1021 to
eliminate indefinite military detention of those detained in the United States.
In short, this amendment would explicitly ban any president or government
official from ordering the military to place anyone in the country into
indefinite detention without charge or trial. It also reaffirms due process
protections for all persons within the United States.
“I am deeply
disappointed that this bipartisan amendment did not get enough votes to be
adopted into the FY13 NDAA.”
###
Follow
McDermott on Twitter: @RepJimMcDermott.
