Senate Panel OKs FY09 Authorization Bill With Torture Ban

Fri. May 2, 2008


In a move that is likely to draw a veto threat from the White House, the Senate Intelligence Committee approved a bill Thursday that would rein in controversial interrogation practices endorsed by the Bush administration.

In a 10-5 vote, a bipartisan majority approved the FY09 intelligence authorization bill, which sets policy and spending levels for the nation's 16 intelligence agencies.

The bill must be approved by the full Senate, where opposition from Republicans is likely to be intense.

The House Intelligence Committee is expected to mark up its version of the bill next week. House Majority Leader Hoyer said he plans to bring that bill to the House floor for a vote before the Memorial Day recess.

Defying the White House, the Senate bill includes an amendment offered by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that would require that all intelligence agencies abide by the Army Field Manual when conducting interrogations of terrorism suspects.

The amendment is intended to ensure that the CIA's alternative interrogation program does not use waterboarding and other forms of torture.

President Bush vetoed the FY08 intelligence authorization bill mainly because it included the torture restriction.

"The president's decision to veto the 2008 authorization bill once again undermined the important national security efforts of our intelligence community," Senate Intelligence Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller said in a statement after the markup.

"The bill we passed today is absolutely necessary to restore the credibility of the United States and to improve the management and oversight of the U.S. intelligence community," Rockefeller said.

Senate Intelligence ranking member Christopher (Kit) Bond criticized the inclusion of the Feinstein amendment, which he said in a news release would "handcuff our law enforcement and intelligence agents and ensure a veto."

"For the fourth straight year the Democrats have chosen to make a bill critical to strengthening our intelligence community their latest political casualty," said Bond, who voted against the bill because of the amendment.

CIA Director Michael Hayden has admitted the agency used waterboarding on three terrorism suspects in late 2001 and 2002. But the administration maintains it no longer resorts to this tactic.

Republicans contend the CIA's alternative interrogation program does not violate the law. They consider the program valuable but argue that Feinstein's amendment would effectively cause it to end.

Because the Army Field Manual and its acceptable interrogation tactics are available on the Internet, terrorism suspects are able to train against them, Republicans said. The techniques used by the CIA remain secret.

The Senate bill includes provisions that would prohibit the CIA from using contractors to conduct interrogations and require intelligence agencies to give the Red Cross access to detainees.

"Taken together, these provisions will go a long way toward repairing the damage done to our counterterrorism efforts by the last six years of the president's misguided policies," Rockefeller said.

Most of the bill remains classified, including the amount of spending authorized for each agency and the size of the overall U.S. intelligence budget.

A law enacted last year requires the administration to publicly disclose the top-line spending on intelligence programs for FY09, but not until one month after the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

The bill includes an amendment from Sens. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., that would create a 14-member independent commission to develop strategies for improving how the U.S. government collects and analyzes foreign intelligence.

Rockefeller said the bill includes "a substantial increase" in funding for human intelligence collection activities and for training intelligence officers, as well as advanced research and development programs.

The bill would also create a Senate-confirmed inspector general for the intelligence community, and require Senate confirmation for the directors of the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

It would also require the intelligence agencies to report on cost and program risks associated with all major acquisition programs. The provision is intended to curb cost overruns and schedule delays.

by Chris Strohm

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