[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 195 (Wednesday, December 19, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              INVESTIGATION NEEDED ABOUT TAPE DESTRUCTION

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 19, 2007

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Madam Speaker, many Americans are rightly 
concerned about reports that the Central Intelligence Agency destroyed 
tapes documenting the interrogation of two suspected Al Qaida 
terrorists.
  This morning's newspapers report that the decision to destroy the 
tapes may have come after the matter had been discussed with legal 
advisers at the highest level in the Bush administration.
  I do not know how accurate those reports may be. But I agree with an 
editorial in yesterday's Gazette, the daily newspaper of Colorado 
Springs, that Congress should investigate this matter.
  In the words of the Gazette:

       The House and Senate intelligence committees and other 
     congressional committees have vowed to undertake 
     investigations into the circumstances under which those tapes 
     were destroyed. This is an appropriate use of the legislative 
     branch's power to oversee the activities of the executive 
     branch, especially when allegations of illegal activity are 
     involved.
       On Friday, however, the Justice Department asked the 
     relevant congressional committees to postpone their 
     investigations while preliminary investigations by the 
     Justice Department and the CIA itself are under way. U.S. 
     Attorney General Michael Mukasey also announced that the 
     Justice Department would not comply with congressional 
     requests for information at this time.
       This stonewalling is inappropriate and only feeds 
     suspicion. Congress is an equal branch of government under 
     the Constitution. As such, it has full authority to conduct 
     investigations into the activities of executive branch 
     employees. * * *
       In a democratic system the government is supposed to serve 
     the interests of the people and eternal vigilance is the 
     price of liberty. But the people cannot maintain vigilance 
     over ``their'' government if the government is allowed to 
     keep its arguably questionable activities secret.

  I completely agree with that succinct summary of the situation, and 
urge the Intellligence Committees to proceed with their inquiries.
  For the information of all our colleagues, I am attaching the 
complete text of the Gazette's editorial:

           [From the Colorado Springs Gazette, Dec. 18, 2007]

     Open Government--Congress Must Investigate Tapes' Destruction

       Although the circumstances are suspicious surrounding a 
     decision by the CIA to destroy videotapes of the 
     interrogations of two al-Qaida suspects by CIA 
     interrogators, it is virtually impossible to know whether 
     those tapes contain evidence of ``enhanced interrogation'' 
     techniques that rise to the level of torture. What is 
     certain is that all the investigations into how and why 
     those tapes were destroyed, and who ordered their 
     destruction, should proceed with all deliberate speed.
       Last week CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden gave secret 
     testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding the 
     hundreds of hours of videotaped interrogation of two men 
     identified as members of al-Qaida, Abu Zubaydah and Abd ai-
     Rahim al-Nashiri. He acknowledged that the tapes had been 
     destroyed sometime around 2005.
       The House and Senate intelligence committees and other 
     congressional committees have vowed to undertake 
     investigations into the circumstances under which those tapes 
     were destroyed. This is an appropriate use of the legislative 
     branch's power to oversee the activities of the executive 
     branch, especially when allegations of illegal activity are 
     involved.
       On Friday, however, the Justice Department asked the 
     relevant congressional committees to postpone their 
     investigations while preliminary investigations by the 
     Justice Department and the CIA itself are under way. U.S. 
     Attorney General Michael Mukasey also announced that the 
     Justice Department would not comply with congressional 
     requests for information at this time.
       This stonewalling is inappropriate and only feeds 
     suspicion. Congress is an equal branch of government under 
     the Constitution. As such, it has full authority to conduct 
     investigations into the activities of executive branch 
     employees.
       At the same time, the Justice Department is urging a 
     federal judge not to hold a hearing into the destruction of 
     the tapes. U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy is presiding 
     over a case involving 12 Yemeni prisoners being held at the 
     detention camp at Guantanamo Bay on Cuba. Defense lawyers 
     have urged such a hearing, noting that in 2005 Kennedy as the 
     presiding judge in Zubaydah's and al-Nashiri's cases ordered 
     that all evidence involving that case be preserved, and want 
     to determine whether the destruction of the Zubaydah and al-
     Nashiri interrogation tapes violated that order.
       It is possible for reasonable people to differ as to 
     whether torture is ever justified. We agree with Sen. John 
     McCain, who knows something about torture from his experience 
     as a Vietnam prisoner of war, that the United States should 
     maintain the moral high ground by abjuring torture. Most 
     experienced interrogators also note that torture is not a 
     reliable way to acquire accurate information.
       A broad, informed debate on appropriate interrogation 
     techniques is appropriate given widespread suspicion that the 
     U.S. has used techniques that are tantamount to torture. The 
     more information available, the more informed any such 
     discussion will be. That's why it is deplorable that the 
     Justice Department wants to quash congressional and judicial 
     inquiries into the destruction of videotapes that may--or may 
     not--have documented the use of inappropriate techniques by 
     government operatives.
       In a democratic system the government is supposed to serve 
     the interests of the people and eternal vigilance is the 
     price of liberty. But the people cannot maintain vigilance 
     over ``their'' government if the government is allowed to 
     keep its arguably questionable activities secret.

                          ____________________