15 Judiciary Democrats seek hearings on Guantanamo

RAW STORY
Published: Sunday July 2, 2006

Fifteen Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee have asked the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee to conduct hearings after last week's Supreme Court decision which overturned the Bush Administration's Military Tribunal requirements, RAW STORY has found.

Excerpts from a press release announcing the news:

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Ranking Member John Conyers stated: "Yesterday's decision was a landmark court ruling that made abundantly clear that the President does not have unlimited powers, and needs to work with the other branches of government. I am hopeful that Congress can work together on a bipartisan basis to resolve the issues highlighted by the Supreme Court yesterday. Given the sensitive legal and constitutional issues raised, clearly the House Judiciary Committee needs to be engaged in this process."

Rep. Adam Schiff added, "the Supreme Court's decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld should act as a wakeup call to Congress to fulfill its responsibility of setting up a legal system by which enemy combatants can be detained. It has been over three years since I first introduced legislation addressing the detention of enemy combatants, and despite repeated calls for hearings, Congress has failed to take action. I am hopeful now that the Supreme Court has weighed in, the House Judiciary Committee Chairman Sensenbrenner will hold hearings and a markup of this vital legislation."

The text of the letter [pdf] follows:

Dear Chairman Sensenbrenner:

The United States Supreme Court has ruled 5-3 in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that the President did not have the authority to set up the "military commissions" in Guantanamo and that they are invalid. The Court found that the military commissions were not expressly authorized by any congressional act and that "the Executive is bound to comply with the Rule of Law that prevails in this jurisdiction."

For several years now, we have requested hearings on Guantanamo and legislation that would establish standards of due process for detainees. The Supreme Court has now called on Congress to act in this area.

In the last several years, former Bush Administration Justice Department officials have also suggested the need to reevaluate the Administration's system of detaining individuals without oversight. Viet Dinh, former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy, called "unsustainable" the government's insistence on detentions without meaningful oversight or due process. Michael Chertoff, former head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, wrote a few years ago that policymakers "may need to think more systematically and universally about the issue of combatants" and "debate a long-term and sustainable architecture for the process of determining when, why, and for how long someone may be detained...and what judicial review should be available."

The Supreme Court decision in Hamdan specifically found that the existing military commissions in Guantanamo do not meet the requirements of the Uniform Code of Military Justice ("UCMJ"). Legislation establishing standards of due process for the tribunals in Guantanamo based on the UCMJ was referred to the Judiciary Committee over a year ago and is still pending action.

Justice Breyer, in a concurring opinion, pointed out that "Congress has not issued the Executive a 'blank check'" and that "nothing prevents the President from returning to Congress to seek the authority he believes necessary." We believe that we must heed this invitation for congressional action and act to establish clear standards and procedures to deal with terrorist detainees. Accordingly, we respectfully request that you schedule a hearing on these issues and legislative proposals as soon as possible.

Respectfully,

Reps. John Conyers, Jr., Adam Schiff, Zoe Lofgren, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Bill Delahunt, Sheila Jackson Lee, Bobby Scott, Martin Meehan, Jerrold Nadler, Chris Van Hollen, Melvin Watt, Howard Berman, Maxine Waters, Robert Wexler, Rick Boucher

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