[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 72 (Friday, May 18, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E847-E848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 17, 2012

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4310) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2013 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense, to prescribe 
     military personnel strengths for fiscal year 2013, and for 
     other purposes:

  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Chair I rise in support of amendment 
No. 46 to H.R. 4310 ``National Defense Authorization Act,'' NDAA, 
offered by Ranking Member Adam Smith and Rep. Justin Amash. It would 
strike section 1022 of the FY2012 NDAA and amends Section 1021 of same 
Act to eliminate indefinite military detention of any person detained 
under AUMF authority in U.S., territories or possessions by providing 
immediate transfer to trial and proceedings by a court established 
under Article III of the Constitution of the United States or by an 
appropriate State court.
  This amendment would bar any President or any other government 
official from ordering the military to put anyone in the United States, 
or its territories or possessions, into indefinite detention without 
charge or trial, or to put anyone in the United States on trial before 
a military commission.
  Federal criminal courts are open, operating, experienced, and 
secure--and are the appropriate venue for any proceedings here in the 
United States itself.
  The Bill of Rights applies to all persons within the United States 
and its territories, this amendment is consistent with 232 years of 
constitutional precedent as it does not pick and choose between which 
persons on located on U.S. soil will receive constitutional 
protections.
  Further, the amendment bars the transfer of anyone in the United 
States to the military for indefinite detention without charge or 
trial. This provision is consistent with the Posse Comitatus Act, and 
would provide an additional protection against any misuse of civilian 
law enforcement as a way to put suspects into military detention 
without charge or trial.
  It is fully consistent with the Constitution, with the Posse 
Comitatus Act of 1878, and with the Non-Detention Act of 1971. It will 
reinforce the protections that most Americans assume apply--and do 
apply--within the United States.
  Since 2001, this executive power has only been utilized 3 times which 
makes it clear that it is not necessary to protect our national 
security; however, creates a gap in our civil liberties.
  This amendment would repeal section 1022 of last year's NDAA. Section 
1022 requires the military to put some civilian suspects into military 
detention.

[[Page E848]]

  The current Administration has waived application of section 1022 to 
many groups of potential suspects, it has not foreclosed the 
possibility of section 1022 being applied to all categories of 
civilians, including even within the United States itself. To ensure 
this provision will not be used against those living in the United 
States under section 1022 of last year's NDAA is to repeal it.
  Our military is designed to fight our battles overseas and to protect 
our borders they are not designed to enforce domestic laws.
  The military has not been required to enforce domestic laws since the 
Civil War. We have a Department of Justice, State and Federal 
Prosecutors, and local law enforcement that have been successful for 
hundreds of years.
  The amendment reaffirms the importance and availability of due 
process protections for all persons within the United States. It 
prohibits the NDAA detention provisions from providing any authority 
for the military to detain persons under any claim of authority under 
the NDAA or the Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting civil liberties and 
upholding the constitution by supporting this amendment.

                          ____________________