[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 85 (Thursday, June 23, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H5081]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PRISONER ABUSE INVESTIGATIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. McHenry). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, the call for an independent 
commission to review accusations of abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo 
Bay, Cuba and other places continues to grow. This is not a partisan 
issue. Members from both sides of the aisle, citizens who consider 
themselves progressives and citizens who consider themselves 
conservatives, have joined the call for such a commission. Opinion 
polls reflect the American people's deep concern about prisoner abuse. 
The security of our Nation is profoundly impacted by our reputation, by 
how we are viewed by the rest of the world.
  Our response to terrorism is based on contrasting our values to 
theirs. We are conducting an ideological war in parallel with police 
and military operations. The outcome of both the ideological struggle 
and the armed struggle hinge to a significant extent on this great test 
of values.
  Therefore, Mr. Speaker, it is great shame that attention has been 
diverted in recent days from the fundamental issues to the words used 
by one Senator, a Senator whom I much admire and greatly respect, who 
has admitted that the words he used were too strong and who has 
apologized to those whom he may have offended. The issue raised by the 
Senator was timely, on target, and central to our Nation's best 
interests, despite the fact that his specific words failed to properly 
frame his message.
  It is imperative that we remain focused on the issue that the Senator 
called to our attention and not allow ourselves to be dissuaded, 
deterred, or discouraged from pursuing a thorough public inquiry into 
prisoner abuse in much the same manner as the commission we created to 
examine September 11.
  Do some of the policies of our government endanger our troops by 
disparaging the image of America? Are our own troops endangered by our 
strained and unique interpretation of the Geneva Conventions? Has our 
approach to human intelligence distorted and limited our ability to 
understand and respond to the insurgency in Iraq and the terrorist 
threat in general? Do the incidents of abuse flow from decisions taken 
at the highest levels with regard to the conduct of American 
intelligence?
  These are urgent and critical questions that cannot be answered 
adequately in the inquiries launched to date. We owe a great debt to 
those who have spoken out, calling for an independent commission, 
sometimes at great personal cost. I thank them for their leadership.
  We owe a great debt to Senator Richard Durbin for helping cause 
Americans to look seriously at this issue of prisoner abuse by our 
intelligence agencies and our military. I thank the Senator.

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