[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Message from Senator Barack Obama

[Morton K. Brussel]

FYI. Habeus corpus, the Geneva conventions,  and Obama…

Begin forwarded message:

> From: senator_obama at obama.senate.gov
> Date: February 9, 2007 9:29:27 AM CST
> To: mkb3 at mac.com
> Subject: Message from Senator Barack Obama
>
> Dear Morton:
>
>  	Thank you for contacting me regarding the debate over U.S.  
> detainee policy and the War on Terror. I understand your concerns  
> and agree that this issue should be revisited by the new Congress.
>
> There is significant support in the 110th Congress for review of  
> the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and several proposals for  
> alternatives to the current system have been introduced or  
> discussed. For example, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the  
> Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter  
> (R-PA) have introduced legislation, the Habeas Corpus Restoration  
> Act of 2007 (S. 185), which would repeal the MCA and allow courts  
> to hear or consider legal challenges to military commissions only  
> as provided by the Code of Military Justice or by a habeas corpus  
> proceeding. I support this effort to revise the existing MCA statute.
>
> Congress passed the Military Commissions Act on September 28, 2006,  
> in response to the Supreme Court’s overturning the President's  
> military tribunal system at Guantanamo. As you probably know, I  
> voted against this bill.   The President's proposal weakens the  
> nation’s Geneva Convention obligations and seriously undermines  
> important constitutional tenets, such as habeas corpus.
>  	
> Furthermore, the Congressional debate on this legislation occurred  
> before we even saw the final compromise. Consideration of this bill  
> was rushed in both chambers, where dissenting views were quickly  
> dismissed or disregarded altogether. During the Senate debate,  
> Republican leaders allowed votes on only four amendments, all of  
> which were defeated on party-line votes.  Those amendments, which I  
> supported, could have improved the bill significantly without  
> placing any burden on our national security efforts.  Senator  
> Rockefeller of West Virginia, for example, offered an amendment  
> aimed at improving oversight of the program, and required only that  
> the Pentagon submit quarterly reports to Congress on its  
> activities.  Congressional oversight of the Executive Branch is a  
> constitutionally- endowed responsibility of Congress.  I am  
> disappointed that this common sense provision was rejected in favor  
> of politics.
>
> No president should be deprived of the tools necessary to keep  
> America safe. However, the timing and hurried debate and vote on  
> the MCA bill just one month before the 2006 elections was  
> disconcerting.  There should be no doubt in the public mind that  
> lawmakers are focused on keeping the nation safe and preserving the  
> values that make our country the envy of the world, not on gaining  
> tactical partisan advantage.
>
>  	Thank you again for writing. Please continue to stay in touch.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Barack Obama
> United States Senator
>
>
> P.S. Our system does not allow direct response to this email.  
> However, if you would like to contact me again, please use the form  
> on the website: http://obama.senate.gov/contact/
>
> Stay up to date with Barack's work in the Senate and on issues of  
> importance to Illinois. Subscribe to the weekly podcast here:  
> http://obama.senate.gov/podcast/

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