February 11, 2009 5:56 PM

Senate Passes Terror Detainee Bill

(CBS/AP)  The Senate passed legislation that endorsed President George W. Bush's plan to prosecute and interrogate terrorism suspects, all but sealing approval for a bill Republicans plan to use to spotlight their tough stance against terrorists weeks ahead of congressional elections.

The 65-34 vote means the bill could reach the president's desk by week's end to be signed into law.

The House of Representatives passed almost identical legislation on Wednesday by 253-168 and was expected to endorse the Senate bill on Friday, then ship it to the White House.

There are some "technical corrections" to be dealt with, however, and the bill may have to go back to the House for another vote before it goes down to the White House, reports CBS News correspondent John Nolen.

"The Senate sent a strong signal to the terrorists that we will continue using every element of national power to pursue our enemies and to prevent attacks on America," Bush said in a statement Thursday night.

The White House was less successful in gaining congressional approval of the president's warrantless wiretapping program. Although the House approved by a 232-191 vote a bill that would grant legal status to the program with new restrictions, the measure differed so much from the Senate version that a reconciliation effort appeared unlikely before the November elections.

The detainee bill would create military commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects. It also would prohibit blatant abuses of detainees but grant the president flexibility to decide what interrogation techniques are permissible.

The White House and its supporters have called the measure crucial in the anti-terror fight, but some Democrats said it left the door open to abuse, violating the U.S. Constitution in the name of protecting Americans.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who helped draft the legislation during negotiations with the White House, said the measure set up a system for treating detainees that the nation can be proud of. He said the goal "is to render justice to the terrorists, even though they will not render justice to us."

Democrats said the Republicans' rush to muscle the measure through Congress was aimed at giving them something to boast about during the campaign, in which control of the House and Senate are at stake. Election Day is Nov. 7.

"There is no question that the rush to pass this bill, which is the product of secret negotiations with the White House, is about serving a political agenda," said Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy.

Senate approval was the latest step in the remarkable journey that Bush has taken in shaping how the United States treats terrorism suspects it has been holding, some for almost five years without charges.

In June the Supreme Court nullified Bush's initial system for trying detainees, and this month a handful of maverick senators from Bush's Republicans embarrassed the president by forcing him to slightly tone down his next proposal. They struck a deal last week, and the president and congressional Republicans are now claiming the episode as a victory.

While Democrats warned the bill could open the way for abuse, Republicans said rejection of the bill would put the country at risk of another terror attack such as the ones on Sept. 11, 2001.

"We are not conducting a law enforcement operation against a check-writing scam or trying to foil a bank heist," said Republican Senator Mitch McConnell. "We are at war against extremists who want to kill our citizens."



© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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by usawatchman September 29, 2006 4:13 PM EDT
These Questions are BEFORE the US Supreme Court this week
IS US SUPREME COURT as CORRUPT as the rest of the GOVERNMENT?
If we do not have JUSTICE in the COURTS
We NO LONGER have a COUNTRY of the PEOPLE..
====
No. 05-1467 IN THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
____
JAMES B. VEASAW - PETITIONER
Vs.
CARI M DOMINGUEZ, wt al.- RESPONDENTS
ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO
UNITED STATES FIFTH CIRCUIT COURT
PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
JAMES B. VEASAW
Edited out
QUESTIONS PRESENTED

1) Are State and Federal Employees IMMUNE to commit CRIMES against the PEOPLE in order to GAIN the upper hand in a Court Case or Administrative investigation and/or Process , without any fear of RETRIBUTION in the COURTS?
2) Are FEDERALLY FUNDED PROGRAMS accessible by All Citizen for whom the programs were designed for, or are they just really WORK PROGRAMS designed to give CRONIES and BUREAUCRATS high paying Jobs?
3) Must the citizens of this country PASS LITERARY TESTS in order to receive PROTECTION in the COURTS
(i.e. say the "MAGIC WORDS" for justice)
(i.e. put the "MAGIC WORDS" on " MAGIC PAPER ")?
4) Are theses laws CONSTITUTIONAL, If these laws are not EQUALLY apply to ALL (STATE, FEDERAL, CORPORATE)?
5) I think (are) ALL of you ARE CORRUPT ?
6) CAN THE PETITIONER GET MORE JUSTICE WITH A $10 BOX OF AMMO, THAN WHAT CAN EVER BE FOUND IN ALL THE CORRUPT UNITED STATES COURT ROOMS.?
COURT DOCUMENT
EDITED OUT
For 1500 word limit

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by pannohome September 29, 2006 2:39 PM EDT
What a sad day for the nation and all the American people. We have given up to Bush and his cronies another right. When do we stop and uphold the values that America was built on.
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by ronniehm September 29, 2006 1:07 PM EDT
No, actually jumkey, we did not say that. You said that based on the accusations of terrorists and your ability to read minds to determine their integrity.
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by houser123 September 29, 2006 12:19 PM EDT
I am hopeful that the American voters will see this bill for excatly what it is. A way for the Republicnas to claim some sort of advantage over their apponents by voting for this piece of garbage legislation. Never in our history have we been so disrespected in the world and held in such low esteem. Once power shifts in our great country and it will, it will be interesting to see how the Republicans react to have given a Democratic president such unchecked power. Do you think they will be ringing the bell and shouting what a great job they are doing, I think not. At that time they will say, well we need to re-evaluate that decision based on what we know now. These guys are such hypocrites it is truly unbelievable. I can only hope that the Democratic party takes control of one house of the legislation this year to provide oversight and put forth new ideas and visions.
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by omicronthree September 29, 2006 12:18 PM EDT
I guess we should be careful what we post... We may disappear one night....
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by observantx September 29, 2006 11:50 AM EDT
Our constitution is now toilet paper.

These men have violated the oath they swore to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. That was to UPHOLD and DEFEND, not redefine and euphemize. They did it with their hands on the Bible. A book that they so fervently declare to be sacred to them.

Now we know what is sacred to them.

POWER, that is their god. That is what they worship.

I want my government not to protect me, but to protect our constitution and the freedoms it guarantees.

This shameless sham in the runup to the election is about maintaining power and control. These people need to go. Vote them out! Every single citizen of this country has to go to the polls and take back their freedom for themselves and their children.
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by jetauma September 29, 2006 11:31 AM EDT
This bill also has a provision to protect Bush, et al from future prosecution for abuse violations of the geneva convention statutes. Bush gets to sign his own protection bill!.
Let's see: 65 senators agree to let Bush decide how, when, and where prisoners will be tortured. He decides the kind of trial (if any) these presumably innocent (that was our way of law) people will get.

Fascism is alive and well in America.
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by searingtruth September 29, 2006 4:03 AM EDT
iloveusa

Thank you.

"Republicans are running into all the same old problems as enemies before, too many Americans."
SearingTruth

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by iloveusa-2009 September 29, 2006 3:39 AM EDT
I'm not afraid to die in a terrorist attack (or car crash or west nile mosquito), so please Mr. Bush, no need torture people on my account. You're either with me or your a pinko.
Reply to this comment
by searingtruth September 29, 2006 3:05 AM EDT
Mirror

My friends, sometimes the most difficult thing about fighting evil is realizing that it actually exists, and then unambiguously and forcefully calling it what it is.

History shows time and time again that one of evils greatest strengths is its ability to disguise itself as good, or at least a temporary necessity, until that last fatal moment when its revelation becomes clear, indisputable, and inescapable.

So today let us take a clear and unadulterated look into the mirror at ourselves.

Just six years ago we were one of the most respected and admired defenders of democracy and human rights in history. Respected not only by our friends, but even begrudgingly by most of our enemies. In fact, even the fantastic power of our military paled in comparison to the overwhelming might of our moral authority.

Today we are a nation that operates secret prisons occupied by anonymous inmates, illegally abducted and held indefinitely without charge or representation. We are guilty of torture. We are guilty of murder. We are guilty of preemptive war of conquest. We are guilty of the wholesale surveillance of our population, suppressing all hope of privacy and free dissent. And we are guilty of disgracing our nation through the abandonment of even our most basic precepts of morality.

If this is not evil, then nothing we have ever fought against is evil, and nothing we have ever fought for is good.


Freedom Clock - www.searingtruth.com
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