[Peace-discuss] Call for support for another anti-torture bill, "American Anti-Torture Act"

[Stuart Levy]

... since Bush successfully vetoed the last anti-torture bill.

Glad to hear that Rep. Tim Johnson was one of those who voted
to overturn the veto -- something not many Republicans did --
please thank him for doing that!


Have others received the call below, too?  Nobody at last night's
AWARE meeting seemed to have.  The bill is H.R. 4114,
the "American Anti-Torture Act", introduced last November.
Now has 72 co-sponsors, from Ron Paul (R-TX) to Keith Ellison (D-MN):

    http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-4114

Rep. Johnson is not currently a cosponsor of this bill.  
But you can urge him to support it.  His local office's phone is
217-403-4690.

Here are details:

     http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h4114:

Summary of HR 4114:

    Amends the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 to prohibit any person in
    the custody or control of the United States (under current law, the
    Department of Defense) from being subject to any treatment or technique
    of interrogation not authorized by and listed in the U.S. Army Field
    Manual on Intelligence Interrogation.

    Makes such prohibition inapplicable with respect to any person in the
    custody or control of the United States (under current law, the Department
    of Defense) pursuant to a U.S. criminal or immigration law.


(This is related to but different from the HR 2082 bill which Bush recently vetoed.)


Here's the call-for-support.   If you sign it, CommonDreams.org will
send an e-mail on your behalf -- presumably to your rep., i.e. Tim Johnson
for most on this list.   That's good, though I expect a phone call will be
more effective.  And again, please recognize Johnson's vote to override
the last veto.


    Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 09:19:10 -0400 (EDT)
    From: "Matt Reading, CommonDreams.org" <matt at commondreams.org>
    Subject: Are you voting for torture? Speak up!

    If you're like me, you want to make sure your vote doesn't support torture.  

    A growing group of legislators wants Congress to take a stand
    against Bush's use of torture -- and give voters the information
    we need to ensure America is never disgraced by torture again.

    Let's force Congress to take a stand!  Urge your representative to
    co-sponsor and promote the American Anti-Torture Act.  Click here:
       http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1493/t/2765/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2099

    [...]