The U.S. Senate has approved the Military Commissions Act of 2006, legislation authorizing the President to establish military commissions for the trial of alien unlawful enemy combatants engaged in hostilities against the United States. Senator Kit Bond was among those both speaking against and voting against a series of amendments designed to extend greater rights to detainees and to restrict the authority of interrogators to question detainees. He criticized one such amendment as a roadblock to the effort to protect the country from terrorism. Senator Jim Talent joined Senator Bond in voting for the final version of the bill. The bill passed by the Senate is almost identical to one passed by the U.S. House. The legislation results from the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, last June, that America’s detainee policy for enemy combatants violated both U.S. and international law. The final tally was 65-34 in favor of the bill.
Related web sites:
U.S. Senate Bill 3930