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

[Ricky Baldwin]

Thanks for sharing this, Mort-

I think we ought to be writing Obama and telling him
exactly what "tools to keep America safe" should NOT
include ...

Ricky
--- "Morton K. Brussel" <mkb3 at mac.com> wrote:

> 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/
> 
> > _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>
http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
> 



 
____________________________________________________________________________________
Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check. 
Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta.
http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/mailbeta/newmail_tools.html