[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 60 (Thursday, May 5, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H3095]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING CONTRIBUTIONS OF ENHANCED INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES IN WAR 
                             AGAINST TERROR

  (Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California asked and was given permission 
to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, as we have 
appropriately celebrated the successful mission to take out Osama bin 
Laden, there has been one discordant note sounded in the Halls of 
Congress, and that is with the testimony of the Attorney General of the 
United States. There still is a reluctance on the part of this 
administration to recognize the major contribution made to this country 
by those who were involved in enhanced interrogation techniques which 
resulted in part of the information, the intelligence information, that 
allowed us to find Osama bin Laden.
  The reason I bring this up is this administration has said in the 
past that certain types of enhanced interrogation techniques equaled 
torture. I do not believe that to be true, and for that to remain on 
the record subjects those men and women who have done a tremendous job 
for this country, which has resulted in one of the successful missions, 
in addition to other missions that have taken place in our war against 
terror, subjects them to the cloud of prosecution in the future and the 
accusation that they involved themselves in forms of conduct that would 
be defined as torture by some of the highest officials in the United 
States. That is something that we cannot allow to happen.
  When we have the CIA Director indicate that we did receive 
information as a result of some of these activities, it seems to me 
that we are duty bound to clear up the record and to thank those men 
and women, not condemn them.

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