[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Page 24976]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   INDEPENDENT COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE DETENTION AND INTERROGATION 
                               OPERATIONS

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, in my judgment, a further investigation is 
simply unnecessary. The Department of Defense has conducted 12 major 
investigations. Over 400 criminal investigations and hundreds more 
informal investigations have been or are being conducted to determine 
the responsibility and, if appropriate, culpability and accountability.
  The combined investigations are unprecedented in scope. The CIA and 
the Department of Justice are also conducting investigations into the 
actions of their employees related to detention and interrogation 
activities.
  Responsibility and accountability have been assessed. Over 400 
criminal investigations have been conducted and 168 remain open; 95 
military personnel have been criminally charged with misconduct, and 75 
have been convicted to date. In addition, 177 military personnel have 
been administratively disciplined. Almost 20 percent of those 
disciplined have been officers.
  Congress has held 30 open hearings, received over 40 closed 
briefings, and countless staff briefings. The Department has been very 
forthcoming, providing complete investigations that include over 2,800 
interviews and over 16,000 pages of related documents.
  The combined investigations have made 442 recommendations, over 300 
of which have been implemented, and the rest are in progress, including 
standardization policy and procedures for detention and interrogation 
operations, revising policies regarding the International Committee of 
the Red Cross visits and reports, improved training and clear policy 
guidance for interagency detention activities.
  Investigations have universally concluded that there was no policy of 
abuse and that no policy led to abuse. As the Schlesinger report 
stated--that was a commission established by the Secretary of Defense, 
indeed at the urging of the Congress and our committee, but it was 
Secretary Schlesinger and Secretary Harold Brown, both former 
Secretaries of Defense, one a Republican and one a Democrat, men who 
have had extraordinary reputations throughout their lives. I feel that 
was one of the major landmark investigations connected with this 
ongoing problem. They stated:

       No approved procedures call for or allow the kind of abuse 
     that, in fact, occurred. There is no evidence of a policy of 
     abuse promulgated by senior officials or military 
     authorities.

  Any discussion of detainee abuse must be kept in perspective. 
Substantiated cases of abusive conduct by DOD personnel are small in 
comparison to the 70,000 persons who have been detained and the 
hundreds of thousands of interrogations that have been conducted 
humanely, safely, and effectively over the past 4 years.
  An independent commission would send potentially the wrong message to 
our Armed Forces of our lack of confidence in their conduct and would 
seriously undermine ongoing intelligence-gathering activities.
  On a daily basis, we collect intelligence from detainees that 
provides valuable information to our troops in the field, whether it is 
Iraq or Afghanistan or other farflung posts. Simply put, this 
information saves American lives, certainly of the men and women in 
uniform, and I firmly believe it has helped prevent further serious 
attack, such as 9/11, on our Nation.
  The investigative process has reassured the American people, 
strengthened the Armed Forces, and demonstrated to the world that we 
are a nation of laws. Last month, 90 Senators voted in the affirmative 
for an amendment that required civilized treatment of prisoners at 
detention facilities. That is the McCain amendment, and I have been a 
partner with him in the very initiation of those efforts.
  The amendment banned cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment. That 
vote sent a strong signal. Who among us was not affected when Senator 
McCain said that he and fellow prisoners in Hanoi knew and took great 
strength from the belief that ``we were different from our enemies, 
that we were better than they, that we, if the roles were reversed, 
would not disgrace ourselves by committing or countenancing such 
mistreatment of them.''
  Move on we must to win this war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Replaying 
these dreadful and inexcusable instances again in public forum will 
bring no remarkable insights and no lessons learned, nor will it do 
anything to reduce the fighting. It will, in fact, draw resources from 
the war effort by placing a heavy burden on senior commanders and key 
civilian leaders.
  The Committee on Armed Services held over half a dozen hearings on 
this issue. We still have these matters under review. Still, the 
question of accountability remains, but we have to wait until there is 
a conclusion of more of the military cases before I think we probably 
will do our final work on this chapter, a chapter that I characterize--
that is Abu Ghraib--as one of the most serious I ever witnessed in my 
many years of public service, either in the Pentagon or in the Senate 
as a member of the Armed Services Committee.
  Mr. President, I see the distinguished Senator from Georgia. For that 
purpose, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia is recognized.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Pryor, Senator 
Isakson, and myself, I rise to call up amendment No. 2433 to S. 1042 
and request that Senator Landrieu be added as a cosponsor. I believe 
the amendment is at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator should be advised that the bill is 
not currently pending.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, on that point, I suggest that we now go to 
the bill. I believe there is a pending amendment which requires a UC to 
be laid aside; am I not correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mr. WARNER. I so ask at this time.

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