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Van Hollen Statement on the
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008
Veto Message from the President of the United States
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to cast my vote to override the President's veto of the ban on torture. This bill would have prevented the CIA from engaging in acts of torture. The President vetoed this bill over the provision that specifically extends to U.S. intelligence agencies and personnel the current prohibitions in the Army Field Manual against waterboarding and other torture.
The human rights violations perpetrated by the Bush Administration against people detained by the United States have done more to compromise this nation's security than to protect it. We can protect our nation from acts of terrorism without compromising our values or the Constitution.
The use of torture by U.S. intelligence agencies to gain intelligence is repugnant on moral grounds. In addition, many experts agree that information extracted through torture is often unreliable and misleading. Moreover, as the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, Colin Powell, has testified, torture will put our own troops at greater risk of torture.
In 2007, General David Petraeus stated that torture is wrong and that the Army Field Manual works. In an open letter to service members in May 2007, General Petraeus stated, “Some may argue that we would be more effective if we sanctioned torture or other expedient methods to obtain information from the enemy. They would be wrong. Beyond the basic fact that such actions are illegal, history shows that they also are frequently neither useful nor necessary. Certainly, extreme physical action can make someone ‘talk’; however, what the individual says may be of questionable value. In fact, our experience in applying the interrogation standards laid out in the Army Field Manual ..... shows that the techniques in the Manual work effectively and humanely in eliciting information from detainees.''
At a February 29th news briefing to oppose the President's anticipated veto, Retired Lt. Gen. Harry Soyster, former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, stated, “Experience shows that the Army Field Manual's approaches to interrogation work. The Army Field Manual is comprehensive and sophisticated. It contains all the techniques any good interrogator needs to get accurate, reliable information, including out of the toughest customers. . . If [individuals] think these [harsh interrogation] methods work, they're woefully misinformed. Torture is counterproductive on all fronts. It produces bad intelligence. It ruins the [interrogation] subject, makes them useless for further interrogation. And it damages our credibility around the world.''
Moreover, thirty retired military leaders have pointed out that failing to prohibit harsh interrogation techniques endangers our men and women in uniform. In a December 2007 letter, these retired military leaders wrote, “We believe it is vital to the safety of our men and women in uniform that the United States not sanction the use of interrogation methods it would find unacceptable if inflicted by the enemy against captured Americans. ..... The current situation, in which the military operates under one set of interrogation rules that are public and the CIA operates under a separate, secret set of rules, is unwise and unpractical ..... What sets us apart from our enemies in this fight ..... is how we behave. In everything we do, we must observe the standards and values that dictate that we treat noncombatants and detainees with dignity and respect.''
Many retired military leaders have also pointed out that waterboarding is clearly torture and is illegal. For example, Retired Admiral Donald Guter, Judge Advocate General, wrote in a November 2007 letter, “Waterboarding is inhumane, it is torture, and it is illegal..... This is a critically important issue--but it is not, and never has been, a complex issue, and even to suggest otherwise does a terrible disservice to this nation. ..... Waterboarding detainees amounts to illegal torture in all circumstances. To suggest otherwise--or even to give credence to such a suggestion--represents both an affront to the law and to the core values of our nation.''
Finally, the use of torture has weakened our national security by eroding our moral standing and has cost us our ability to enlist the cooperation and support of other nations in our fight against terrorism, and places our military and diplomatic personnel at risk. This practice must be stopped. Overturning this veto would be a crucial first important step in restoring our moral standing in the world. It is imperative that Congress tells the world in no uncertain terms: Americans do not engage in torture.
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