[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 32 (Thursday, February 27, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         INTRODUCTION OF THE DETENTION OF ENEMY COMBATANTS ACT

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                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 27, 2003

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing, with my colleague 
Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, the Detention of Enemy Combatants Act to 
provide authorization for the detainment of ``enemy combatants'' in the 
war on terrorism while guaranteeing that they are granted timely access 
to legal counsel and judicial review.
  In the war on terrorism, the term enemy combatant has been broadly 
defined. In some cases, American citizens have been deemed ``enemy 
combatants'' and incarcerated indefinitely without access to counsel or 
the courts. This has resulted in an unprecedented accretion of power 
over American citizens.
  After the shameful internment of Japanese Americans during World War 
II, we must be vigilant to protect against the government's decision to 
detain, perhaps indefinitely, any American without adequate review of 
the basis of its decision.
  Inspired in party by the internment of Japanese Americans and by the 
anti-spying excesses of the Cold War, Congress in 1971 passed an Act 
providing that ``no citizens shall be imprisoned or otherwise detained 
by the United States except pursuant to an Act of Congress.'' Congress 
has yet to authorize the detention of citizens in the war on terrorism, 
yet American citizens have in fact been detained as enemy combatants.
  For this reason, my colleague Mr. Frank and I are introducing the 
Detention of Enemy Combatants Act, authorizing the government to detain 
an enemy combatant who is a United States person or resident who is a 
member of al Qaeda, or knowingly cooperated with a member of al Qaeda 
in the planning, authorizing, committing, aiding, or abetting of one or 
more terrorist acts against the United States. Furthermore, our bill 
requires that detainees be guaranteed timely access to legal counsel 
and meaningful judicial review to challenge the basis for a detention.
  While we must grant broad latitude to our armed forces when it comes 
to protecting national security, American citizens should not be held 
indefinitely upon the sole determination of one branch of government 
without access to counsel or judicial review of those determinations. 
We must ensure that we do not sacrifice the Constitutional rights we 
pledged to uphold, and without which, none of us are safe from 
unwarranted intrusions on our liberty.
  Mr. Speaker, in sum, the Detention of Enemy Combatants Act will 
provide for clear standards and procedures under which American 
citizens or lawful residents believed to be members of al Qaeda or its 
supporters may be detained as enemy combatants while also provided due 
process.

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