Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,
On The Introduction Of Amendment 2022,
The Habeas Corpus Restoration Act Of 2007,
To H.R. 1585, The National Defense Authorization Act

September 17, 2007

Last year, Congress committed an historic mistake by suspending the Great Writ of habeas corpus — not just for those confined at Guantanamo Bay but for millions of legal residents in the United States.  The Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing in May on this bill illustrated the broad agreement among representatives from diverse political beliefs and backgrounds that the mistake committed in the Military Commissions Act of 2006 must be corrected.  The Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007, S.186, the bill on which this amendment is based, has 30 cosponsors.  The Senate Judiciary Committee reported it on a bipartisan basis.  I hope Senators will review the Committee report on this measure.   

Habeas corpus was recklessly undermined in last year’s Military Commissions Act.  Like the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the elimination of habeas rights was an action driven by fear, and it was a stain on America’s reputation in the world.  This is a time of testing.  Future generations will look back to examine the choices we made during a time when security was too often invoked as a watchword to convince us to slacken our defense of liberty and the rule of law.

The Great Writ of habeas corpus is the legal process that guarantees an opportunity to go to court and challenge the abuse of power by the Government.  The Military Commissions Act rolled back these protections by eliminating that right, permanently, for any non-citizen labeled an enemy combatant.  In fact, a detainee does not have to be found to be an enemy combatant; it is enough for the Government to say someone is “awaiting” determination of that status.   

The sweep of this habeas provision goes far beyond the few hundred detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay, and it includes an estimated 12 million lawful permanent residents in the United States today.  These are people who work and pay taxes, people who abide by our laws and should be entitled to fair treatment.  Under this law, any of these people can be detained, forever, without any ability to challenge their detention in court.   

This is wrong.  It is unconstitutional.  It is un-American.   

Top conservative thinkers, evangelical activists, and prominent members of the Latino community have all spoken out on the need to restore these basic American rights.  General Colin Powell, like many leading former military and diplomatic officials, has spoken of the importance of these habeas rights.  He asked, “Isn’t that what our system’s all about?” 

Perhaps most powerful for me was the testimony of Rear Admiral Donald Guter, who was working in his office in the Pentagon as Judge Advocate General of the Navy on September 11, 2001, and saw first hand the effects of terrorism.  His credibility is unimpeachable when he says that denying habeas rights to detainees endangers our troops and undermines our military efforts. 

Admiral Guter testified:  “As we limit the rights of human beings, even those of the enemy, we become more like the enemy.  That makes us weaker and imperils our valiant troops, serving not just in Iraq and Afghanistan, but around the globe.”

 

He was right.  Whether you are an individual soldier, or a great Nation, it is difficult to defend the higher ground by taking the lower road.  The world knows what our enemies stand for.  The world also knows what this country has tried to stand for and live up to – in the best of times, and the worst of times.

 

Now, as we work to reauthorize the many programs that compose our valiant armed forces, it is the right time to heed the advice of so many of our top military lawyers who tell us that eliminating basic legal rights undermines our fighting men and women; it does not make them stronger. 

 

I am proud to call up our amendment, Senate Amendment 2022, which now has 19 cosponsors, and seek its immediate consideration. 

 

Mr. President, I especially want to thank Senator Specter and acknowledge his strong and consistent leadership on this issue.  Senator Specter and I came to this floor to offer this amendment back on July 10, when this bill was initially being considered, and thereafter.   I hope all Senators will now join with us in restoring basic American values and the rule of law, while making our Nation stronger.

 

It is from strength that America should defend our values and our way of life.  It is from the strength of our freedoms, our Constitution, and the rule of law that we shall prevail.  I hope all in the Senate, Republicans and Democrats, will join us in standing up for a stronger America, for the America we believe in, and support the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007. 

 

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