[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    MILITARY COMMISSIONS ACT OF 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. DARLENE HOOLEY

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 27, 2006

  Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Speaker, in the 5 years since this Administration 
declared a ``War on Terror'', hundreds of insurgents have been detained 
in Afghanistan and Iraq and are currently being held at Guantanamo Bay 
by American military forces. It was my hope that this legislation would 
establish clear guidelines for the treatment of these detainees as 
opposed to the undefined, and often conflicting, rules that the 
Administration has been acting under. Instead, this legislation 
threatens both the safety of our troops and undermines our values. 
Rather than clearly banning abuse and clearly recognizing these 
detainees as POWs under the Geneva Conventions, this legislation 
reinterprets the Geneva Conventions' guidelines and leaves American 
soldiers serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere outside the scope 
of protection offered by the Geneva Conventions. We have made the 
decision to send these soldiers into harm's way and we cannot in good 
conscience vote for legislation that exposes them to the risk of abuse.

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