[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 88 (Wednesday, June 23, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1218-E1219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 INTRODUCTION OF RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 23, 2004

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce a resolution of 
inquiry to request documents about the abuse of detainees and prisoners 
in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. Two weeks ago, Democrats 
publicly requested that the White House release all documents 
concerning the growing Iraq prison abuse scandal. We were ignored, so 
today I am offering a resolution of inquiry which formally requests 
that the White House to release the documents.
  We are in the midst of one of the most serious incidents of human 
rights abuses in our Nation's history. In Iraq, Afghanistan and 
Guantanamo, it is increasingly clear that our Nation's military and 
civilian contractors--at the behest of the very highest officials in 
the administration--engaged in physical, psychological, and sexual 
abuse on a widespread basis. Scores of detainees were murdered. 
Numerous warnings were ignored. The Justice Department provided the 
legal cover necessary to justify torture.
  The resolution I am offering today will ensure that the 
administration no longer picks and chooses what information it will 
share with us. While the administration released a number of documents 
yesterday pertaining to the treatment of detainees and prisoners, we've 
all learned that it only shares what information reflects on it best. 
There is no reason to believe that the memos made public yesterday 
represent all of what the President and his Cabinet approved.
  The documents also touch on only one of many issues that need 
investigation. While understanding how the administration came to deny 
Geneva Convention protections to detainees is important, it is also 
critical to determine what the administration did once it realized its 
military was committing abuse, what role contractors had in this mess, 
whether warnings were ignored, and more. Therefore, I ask my colleagues 
to support this resolution so that we may get the rest of the documents 
in the administration's possession so that we may conduct a thorough 
investigation.
  The prison scandal is a stain on our Nation and an impediment to the 
prosecution of the war against terror. If this Congress can't find the 
will to investigate an abuse of this magnitude, it calls into question 
our entire constitutional system of checks and balances.
  We've given the President and the Republican majority every 
opportunity to participate in what any decent society demands--
accountability for inhuman and degrading acts committed in our name. If 
they won't help us get to the bottom of why these atrocities happened, 
we'll do it without them.

                               H. Res.--

       Resolved, That the President is requested, and the 
     Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the 
     Attorney General are each directed, to transmit to the House 
     of Representatives not later than 14 days after the date of 
     the adoption of this resolution all documents in their 
     possession, except those documents in the Attorney General's 
     possession that have been found by a court to be protected by 
     Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) in a proceeding at 
     which the Attorney General or the Department of Justice is a 
     party, relating to the treatment of prisoners or detainees in 
     Iraq, Afghanistan, or Guantanamo Bay and any requisite 
     instructions for handling such documents, including--
       (1) every report, memorandum, or complaint from the 
     International Committee of the Red Cross relating to the 
     treatment of detainees or prisoners and any documents that 
     reference such memorandum, report, or complaint by the 
     President, by any Federal official covered by this 
     resolution, or by any agency under any such Federal official;
       (2) every report, memorandum, or complaint from Human 
     Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Iraqi Human Rights 
     Association, Afghan Human Rights Commission, Physicians for 
     Human Rights, or Human Rights First relating to the treatment 
     of detainees or prisoners and any documents that reference 
     such memorandum, report, or complaint by the President, by 
     any Federal official covered by this resolution, or by any 
     agency under any such Federal official;
       (3) every document relating to interrogation techniques;
       (4) every internal report of a law enforcement, military, 
     or intelligence agency or organization concerning 
     interrogation or detention operations;
       (5) every internal report of a law enforcement, military, 
     or intelligence agency in response to allegations that the 
     treatment of prisoners or detainees violated or continues to 
     violate international or American law;
       (6) every document and memorandum regarding the 
     applicability of the Geneva Conventions, the Convention 
     Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading 
     Treatment or Punishment, the International Covenant on 
     Political and Civil Rights, sections 2340-2340A of title 18, 
     United States Code, the War Crimes Act of 1996, and the 
     Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution 
     of the United States to the treatment of prisoners or 
     detainees;
       (7) every document and memorandum relating to command 
     relationships between military police units and military 
     intelligence units;

[[Page E1219]]

       (8) every document and memorandum directing personnel to 
     abstain from using specific interrogation techniques or to 
     withdraw themselves from interrogations being conducted by 
     other departments;
       (9) any Presidential directive or other writing authorizing 
     the use of interrogation tactics or claiming the 
     constitutional authority to do so;
       (10) any documentation of training received by the 800th 
     Military Police Brigade and the 205th Military Intelligence 
     Brigade regarding the treatment of prisoners or detainees;
       (11) any documentation of special access programs as they 
     were applied to prisoners or detainees;
       (12) all records of meetings regarding the treatment of 
     prisoners or detainees at which one or more officials of the 
     Department of State, Department of Defense, Department of 
     Justice, or Central Intelligence Agency were present and the 
     presence of those officials is apparent from the face of the 
     record;
       (13) every document and memorandum concerning the practice 
     of keeping prisoners or detainees off the official roster;
       (14) a list of every ongoing and completed investigation 
     into the treatment of prisoners or detainees, and any written 
     reports produced by any such investigation;
       (15) every document relating to civilian contract employees 
     and their role in prisons;
       (16) all written statements of prisoners or detainees, 
     military personnel, civilian employees of the Federal 
     Government, or civilian contractors regarding the treatment 
     of prisoners or detainees;
       (17) all reports of interrogation of each prisoner or 
     detainee that reflect a claim of abuse by military or 
     civilian personnel or by civilian contractors;
       (18) any documents for work under contracts (including 
     subcontracts and task orders) and all reports on such 
     documents, for interrogation or translation work by CACI 
     International, Titan Corporation, and any other entity that 
     may have performed such work;
       (19) any documents or testimony presented to or prepared by 
     the Detainee Assessment Branch at Abu Ghraib prison at any 
     time after September 1, 2003 regarding the treatment of Iraqi 
     prisoners or detainees by members of the Armed Forces or by 
     civilian contractors working in Iraq employed on behalf of 
     the Department of Defense;
       (20) any complaint forms filled out and submitted at any 
     time after March 1, 2003 by a member of the Armed Services or 
     by a civilian contractor employed on behalf of the Department 
     of Defense or Central Intelligence Agency regarding the 
     treatment of detainees or prisoners; and
       (21) any reports or documents reflecting the death or 
     injury of prisoners or detainees.

                          ____________________