[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 26 (Tuesday, March 8, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H992]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SUPPORT FOR FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pence). Pursuant to the order of the 
House of January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, we come to the floor to speak to the 
American public. Sometimes we come to speak to one another.
  It is in that spirit of speaking to my fellow Members of Congress 
that I rise today. Like you, I was horrified when the pictures at the 
Abu Ghraib prison first came forward, and then the additional admission 
of abuse, mistreatment, indeed, torture at the hands of people that we 
were responsible for.
  And it seems, Mr. Speaker, that this is not an isolated set of 
circumstances. Indeed, there are more stories coming out of torture and 
death of detainees, and of extraordinary rendition, where people the 
United States is concerned with, we allow them to be transported to 
other dictatorships where we know that they will be abused.
  I have been horrified as the stories start to come out, broadly 
reported in the press; and from Amnesty International, and the Red 
Cross. I, like you, my fellow Members of Congress, am horrified that 
the United States would be lumped into the same categories as countries 
that we are trying to encourage to honor human rights. Syria, Egypt, 
Morocco, Saudi Arabia look to be countries where we have allowed people 
or sent them to be tortured.
  This took on a decidedly local flavor for me as press accounts came 
out that a shadow, perhaps illegal dummy, front company, Bayard Foreign 
Marketing, LLC, in my home town of Portland, Oregon, was used to 
transport these people.
  It appears to have been this company, organized in violation of 
Oregon law, to hide the true nature and breadth of this extraordinary 
rendition program. It is important for us as Members of Congress to be 
clear. Torture is morally wrong. It is not just a quaint idea that some 
people feel that it is morally wrong, but it is immoral.
  Additionally, torture is a bad idea for intelligence purposes. The 
experts tell us that if you attempt to drown, beat, shock, freeze 
people, deprive them of sleep long enough, they will admit to almost 
anything you want them to admit to, but it is not the soundest basis 
upon which to base our intelligence decisions.
  Furthermore, when prisoners are tortured, it taints the case against 
them; makes it impossible to bring them to justice in a court of law; 
and, sadly, it puts Americans at risk. The reason that we obey these 
quaint notions against torture is not just because it is morally wrong 
but tactically it puts Americans at risk in uniform and not.
  Mr. Speaker, I am concerned about how Congress can sit on the 
sidelines and let the press and human rights groups do our job. Well, 
actually, they can only do part of our job. They can get the truth out, 
and that ought to be something that each Member of Congress ought to be 
concerned about. But being able to fix abuses, to hold responsible 
parties accountable for violation of human rights, a United States 
policy and perhaps law, that is our job.
  Mr. Speaker, in the history of this country perhaps a half billion 
Americans have lived; only 11,571 Americans have been privileged to be 
Members of Congress. Who do we represent in this matter? Yes, we listen 
to special interests, those with strong political voices. We listen to 
the voters. We listen to the press. But at the end of the day, the 
things that matter most to us, I am convinced, are our family, our 
friends, the outstanding men and women who work for us here on Capitol 
Hill, who are almost like family. How can we look them in the eye when 
such a cloud hangs over America's honor?
  I strongly urge each of my colleagues to look deep into their hearts 
and think about what they are going to do to provide the answer to 
their friends, their family, their neighbors, their staff about what we 
are doing to protect America's honor and to protect the abuse of human 
rights wherever it may be.

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