| The Republican-controlled Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to impose restrictions on the treatment of terrorism suspects, delivering a rare wartime rebuke to President Bush.
Defying the White House, senators voted 90-9 to approve an amendment that would prohibit the use of "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" against anyone in U.S. government custody, regardless of where they are held. The amendment was added to a $440 billion military spending bill for the budget year that began Oct. 1. The proposal, sponsored by Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), also requires all service members to follow procedures in the Army Field Manual when they detain and interrogate terrorism suspects. Bush administration officials say the legislation would limit the president's authority and flexibility in war. |
Apparently Sen. Jeff Sessions was one of the nine. His excuse?
| But Sen. Jeff Sessions (news, bio, voting record), R-Ala., said the legislation is unnecessary. "We do not have a system of systematic abuse of prisoners going on by our United States military," he said. |
That's just absurd. If we're not engaged in torture then opposition to this bill is even LESS understandable. After all, if the official policy doesn't allow abuse, all this is doing is publicly reiterating that fact to the world.
It's quite simple: A vote against this amendment was a vote for torture. So... for the record here are the 9:
| Allard (R-CO) Bond (R-MO) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Cornyn (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Roberts (R-KS) Sessions (R-AL) Stevens (R-AK) |
Please note the party affiliations and the states. If one of these Senators happens to belong to you, give them a call tomorrow and let them know what you think.
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