[House Report 108-547]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




108th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     108-547

======================================================================

 
    RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY REGARDING PICTURES, PHOTOGRAPHS, VIDEOS, 
COMMUNICATIONS, AND REPORTS PRODUCED IN CONJUNCTION WITH DEPARTMENT OF 
     DEFENSE INVESTIGATIONS RELATING TO ALLEGATIONS OF TORTURE OR 
  ALLEGATIONS OF VIOLATIONS OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 1949 AT ABU 
 GHRAIB PRISON IN IRAQ OR RELATING TO THE ABUSE OR ALLEGED ABUSE OF A 
PRISONER OF WAR OR DETAINEE BY ANY CIVILIAN CONTRACTOR WORKING IN IRAQ 
         WHO IS EMPLOYED ON BEHALF OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

                               __________

                             ADVERSE REPORT

                                 OF THE

                      COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES

                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                                   ON

                              H. RES. 640

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                                     


                                     

   June 16, 2004.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed.


                   HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
                      One Hundred Eighth Congress

                  DUNCAN HUNTER, California, Chairman
CURT WELDON, Pennsylvania            IKE SKELTON, Missouri
JOEL HEFLEY, Colorado                JOHN SPRATT, South Carolina
JIM SAXTON, New Jersey               SOLOMON P. ORTIZ, Texas
JOHN M. McHUGH, New York             LANE EVANS, Illinois
TERRY EVERETT, Alabama               GENE TAYLOR, Mississippi
ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland         NEIL ABERCROMBIE, Hawaii
HOWARD P. ``BUCK'' McKEON,           MARTY MEEHAN, Massachusetts
    California                       SILVESTRE REYES, Texas
MAC THORNBERRY, Texas                VIC SNYDER, Arkansas
JOHN N. HOSTETTLER, Indiana          JIM TURNER, Texas
WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina      ADAM SMITH, Washington
JIM RYUN, Kansas                     LORETTA SANCHEZ, California
JIM GIBBONS, Nevada                  MIKE McINTYRE, North Carolina
ROBIN HAYES, North Carolina          CIRO D. RODRIGUEZ, Texas
HEATHER WILSON, New Mexico           ELLEN O. TAUSCHER, California
KEN CALVERT, California              ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania
ROB SIMMONS, Connecticut             BARON P. HILL, Indiana
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia               JOHN B. LARSON, Connecticut
ED SCHROCK, Virginia                 SUSAN A. DAVIS, California
W. TODD AKIN, Missouri               JAMES R. LANGEVIN, Rhode Island
J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia            STEVE ISRAEL, New York
JEFF MILLER, Florida                 RICK LARSEN, Washington
JOE WILSON, South Carolina           JIM COOPER, Tennessee
FRANK A. LoBIONDO, New Jersey        JIM MARSHALL, Georgia
TOM COLE, Oklahoma                   KENDRICK B. MEEK, Florida
JEB BRADLEY, New Hampshire           MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO, Guam
ROB BISHOP, Utah                     RODNEY ALEXANDER, Louisiana
MICHAEL TURNER, Ohio                 TIM RYAN, Ohio
JOHN KLINE, Minnesota
CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan
PHIL GINGREY, Georgia
MIKE ROGERS, Alabama
TRENT FRANKS, Arizona

                    Robert S. Rangel, Staff Director



                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

Purpose and Summary..............................................     1
Background.......................................................     2
Legislative History..............................................     3
Committee Position...............................................     3
Committee Cost Estimate..........................................     3
Oversight Findings...............................................     3
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................     4
Statement of Federal Mandates....................................     4
Record Votes.....................................................     4
Dissenting Views.................................................     6
  Dissenting views of Ike Skelton, John Spratt, Solomon P. Ortiz, 
    Lane Evans, Gene Taylor, Neil Abercrombie, Marty Meehan, 
    Silvestre Reyes, Vic Snyder, Jim Turner, Adam Smith, Loretta 
    Sanchez, Mike McIntyre, Ciro D. Rodriguez, Ellen O. Tauscher, 
    Robert A. Brady, Baron P. Hill, John B. Larson, Susan A. 
    Davis, James R. Langevin, Steve Israel, Rick Larsen, Jim 
    Cooper, Kendrick B. Meek, Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Rodney 
    Alexander, Tim Ryan..........................................     6



108th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     108-547

======================================================================


    RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY REGARDING PICTURES, PHOTOGRAPHS, VIDEOS, 
COMMUNICATIONS, AND REPORTS PRODUCED IN CONJUNCTION WITH DEPARTMENT OF 
     DEFENSE INVESTIGATIONS RELATING TO ALLEGATIONS OF TORTURE OR 
  ALLEGATIONS OF VIOLATIONS OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 1949 AT ABU 
 GHRAIB PRISON IN IRAQ OR RELATING TO THE ABUSE OR ALLEGED ABUSE OF A 
PRISONER OF WAR OR DETAINEE BY ANY CIVILIAN CONTRACTOR WORKING IN IRAQ 
         WHO IS EMPLOYED ON BEHALF OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

                                _______
                                

   June 16, 2004.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Hunter, from the Committee on Armed Services, submitted the 
                               following

                             ADVERSE REPORT

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                       [To accompany H. Res. 640]

  The Committee on Armed Services, to whom was referred the 
resolution (H. Res. 640) of inquiry requesting that the 
Secretary of Defense transmit to the House of Representatives 
before the expiration of the 14-day period beginning on the 
date of the adoption of this resolution any picture, 
photograph, video, communication, or report produced in 
conjunction with any completed Department of Defense 
investigation conducted by Major General Antonio M. Taguba 
relating to allegations of torture or allegations of violations 
of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq 
or any completed Department of Defense investigation relating 
to the abuse or alleged abuse of a prisoner of war or detainee 
by any civilian contractor working in Iraq who is employed on 
behalf of the Department of Defense, having considered the 
same, report unfavorably thereon without amendment and 
recommend that resolution not be agreed to.

                          PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    House Resolution 640, introduced on May 12, 2004, by 
Congressman Chris Bell, requests the Secretary of Defense to 
transmit to the House of Representatives within 14 days any 
picture, photograph, video, communication, or report produced 
in conjunction with the investigation conducted by Major 
General Antonio Taguba relating to allegations of violations of 
the Geneva Conventions at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq or any 
completed investigation relating to the abuse of detainees by 
civilian contractors working in Iraq on behalf of the 
Department of Defense.
    Clause 7 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives provides for a committee to report on a 
qualifying resolution of inquiry, such as H. Res. 640, within 
14 legislative days or a privileged motion to discharge the 
committee is in order. H. Res. 640 was introduced and referred 
to the Committee on Armed Services on May 12, 2004.
    Under the rules and precedents of the House, a resolution 
of inquiry is one of the means by which the House may request 
information from the President of the United States or the head 
of one of the executive departments. It is a simple resolution 
making a direct request or demand of the President or head of 
an executive department to furnish the House of Representatives 
with specific factual information in the possession of the 
executive branch. It is not used to request opinions or to 
require an investigation on a subject.

                               BACKGROUND

    House Resolution 640 calls for the transmission of 
materials produced in conjunction with the development of the 
``Taguba'' report on abuses at Abu Ghraib prison outside of 
Baghdad, Iraq. The committee concluded that the Department of 
Defense has provided the requested materials to the committee, 
and in fact provided additional material of probative value 
beyond those requested.
    Specifically, the committee records indicate that the 
Department of Defense transmitted the ``Taguba'' report to the 
Committee on Armed Services on May 5, 2004, followed by its 
classified annexes on May 10th. In it entirety, the report, 
including its annexes, totals some 6,000 pages. Members of the 
committee were advised on May 11, 2004, that the above 
documents were available for review in keeping with applicable 
procedures. Beyond the written report provided to the 
committee, the Department of Defense arranged two opportunities 
for members of the House of Representatives, including members 
of the committee to view additional photographic and video 
material related to the allegations of abuse at Abu Ghraib 
prison. On May 12th, all members of the House of 
Representatives had an opportunity to view photographs 
associated with Abu Ghraib. The Department arranged a second 
opportunity on May 13th for members of the Committee on Armed 
Services to review the photographic evidence, which some 
members had missed due to a lengthy committee markup of H.R. 
4200, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2005. It should also be noted that some of the photographic 
material made available to members was not produced in 
conjunction with the Taguba report and, therefore, would not 
necessarily be subject to the requirements of the resolution. 
To that extent, the Department of Defense may have already 
provided more information to the House of Representatives than 
the above resolution would require. Third, Major General Taguba 
appeared in person before the Committee on Armed Services on 
May 18th in a closed briefing to answer questions about his 
investigation. The committee concludes that the materials 
requested in House Resolution 640 relating to the ``Taguba'' 
report have been provided to the committee of jurisdiction, the 
Committee on Armed Services, and are available to members of 
the committee for their review.
    The resolution also requests transmission of any picture, 
photograph, video, communication, or report produced in 
conjunction with any completed Department of Defense 
investigation into abuse or alleged abuse by any civilian 
contractor in Iraq. At this time, the Department of Defense has 
not completed any specific investigations on alleged contractor 
abuses of detainees and does not expect to in the timeframe 
covered by the resolution. Thus, the Department does not 
possess any of the contractor-related information that the 
resolution covers. The Department's criminal investigations 
into abuse reports are likewise ongoing. As contractors are 
subject to criminal prosecution in the United States for acts 
they commit overseas under the Military Extraterritorial 
Jurisdiction Act (18 U.S.C. 3261), the committee is concerned 
that transmitting such investigative information to Congress 
could have the additional potential of compromising later 
criminal prosecutions.
    Because the materials requested in H. Res. 640 relating to 
the ``Taguba'' Report have previously been provided to the 
committee, and investigations of contractor abuse have not been 
completed, therefore excluding them from the scope of the 
resolution, the committee ordered the resolution reported 
adversely.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    As noted above, H. Res. 640 was introduced on May 12, 2004, 
and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. On June 14, 
2004, the Committee on Armed Services held a mark-up session to 
consider H. Res. 640. The committee reported adversely the 
resolution by a voice vote.

                           COMMITTEE POSITION

    On June 14, 2004, the Committee on Armed Services met in 
open session and reported adversely the resolution H. Res. 640 
to the House by a voice vote, a quorum being present.

                        COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE

    Pursuant to clause 3(d) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the committee estimates the costs of 
implementing the resolution would be minimal. The Congressional 
Budget Office did not provide a cost estimate for the 
resolution.

                           OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    With respect to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the committee reports that the 
findings and recommendations of the committee, based on 
oversight activities pursuant to clause 2(b)(1) of rule X, are 
incorporated in the descriptive portions of this report.
    With respect to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives and section 308(a)(1) of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this legislation does not 
include any new spending or credit authority, nor does it 
provide for any increase or decrease in tax revenues or 
expenditures.
    With respect to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, performance goals and objectives 
can not be explained, because the resolution does not require 
any new funding.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    The committee finds that clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply because H. 
Res. 640 is not a bill or joint resolution that may be enacted 
into law.

                     STATEMENT OF FEDERAL MANDATES

    Pursuant to section 423 of Public Law 104-4, this 
legislation contains no federal mandates with respect to state, 
local, and tribal governments, nor with respect to the private 
sector. Similarly, the resolution provides no unfunded federal 
intergovernmental mandates.

                              RECORD VOTES

    In accordance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the committee sets forth the 
following record vote that occurred during the committee's 
consideration of H. Res. 640.



                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    House Resolution 640 would require the Secretary of Defense 
to transmit to the House information produced in connection 
with the investigation conducted by Major General Taguba into 
allegations of abuse against Iraqi prisoners and detainees at 
Abu Ghraib prison. During mark up of this legislation in the 
Armed Services Committee, Representative Tauscher offered an 
amendment that would have required the submission of reports in 
the Secretary's possession from nongovernmental organizations 
such as the International Committee of the Red Cross pertaining 
to violations of international or federal law concerning the 
interrogation of detainees. Representatives Skelton and Wilson 
offered a bipartisan amendment that would have required the 
production of additional material related to the prisoner abuse 
scandal at Abu Ghraib prison but not sought by House Resolution 
640. Both of these amendments were defeated on largely party-
line votes, and the committee ordered the resolution reported 
to the House with an adverse recommendation.
    We believe the committee should have acted favorably upon 
the amendments and the resolution, not only because of the 
specific information that the Department would have been 
required to produce, but also because of other considerations 
that go beyond the substance of the bill.
    In our view, the Armed Services Committee should care about 
oversight and should send that signal to the Department. We 
have a constitutional duty under Article 1, section 8 of the 
Constitution to provide for our military. Overseeing how the 
Department spends the money we authorize and appropriate and 
how they execute their programs and activities is part and 
parcel of that responsibility. In an era of increasing defense 
budgets and in a time of war, it's easy to just throw money at 
a problem or to turn away from critical oversight, but our duty 
to the taxpayers doesn't end just because we're at war or 
because there's more money to go around. We have a 
constitutional obligation to look into this matter--to ask 
questions and to probe for answers, and we should not shrink 
from that responsibility.
    Although the committee has held a hearing with the 
Secretary of Defense and has held a few closed briefings that 
have touched upon the topic of prisoner abuse, these actions do 
not suffice as fulfillment of the committee's oversight or 
investigative responsibility. Indeed, recent news stories that 
the Army is considering placing its investigation under a four-
star general and that interrogators at Abu Ghraib were 
reporting allegations of prisoner abuse to senior officers as 
early as November 2003 make clear that the Taguba report leaves 
unaddressed important questions of personal accountability and 
systemic deficiencies that the committee can and should 
explore.
    It is also clear that the eyes of the world are upon the 
United States and Congress to see how we as a nation handle the 
prisoner abuse scandal. Unfortunately, the image of the United 
States has been tarnished by the reprehensible pictures of 
prisoner abuse we have all seen. America needs to reestablish 
its credibility. We have to prove to other nations--
particularly to our allies and the Arab world whose support we 
will ultimately need to succeed in Iraq--that the events at Abu 
Ghraib and elsewhere were an aberration. We must prove that 
cruelty and maltreatment are not the standard operating 
procedure for either our military or our country. Only a 
comprehensive, transparent and public investigation will permit 
us to show the world that we have higher standards--that we are 
a nation of laws, not of men, and that we are dedicated to 
freedom, truth and justice. The Armed Services Committee could 
have helped demonstrate Congress' commitment to accountability 
and to ensuring that these abuses cannot recur by insisting 
that the Secretary of Defense provide us with both the 
information recited in the resolution and that which would have 
been added by the amendments the committee rejected.
    Our ability to succeed in Iraq over the long term begins 
with our ability to demonstrate to the satisfaction of those 
whose support we must have--Iraqis, the American people, allies 
and the international community--that our intentions are noble. 
The benchmark by which these constituencies will judge us is 
how we acquit ourselves in righting the wrongs of detainee and 
prisoner abuses. Congress, particularly the House and the Armed 
Services Committee, has a duty to investigate these abuses now. 
The reputation of our military, the credibility of our country 
and the trust of the world depend on it. H. Res. 640 presented 
the Armed Services Committee with the opportunity to take an 
incremental but important step in publicly showing the world 
that the horrible pictures of Abu Ghraib do not accurately 
reflect how our military operates or the values we stand for as 
a country. The failure of the Armed Services Committee to act 
favorably on this resolution unfortunately leaves open the 
questions of whether we on this committee take our oversight 
responsibility seriously and whether Congress is dedicated to 
finding the truth and seeing that justice will be done in this 
case. We can only hope that this failure will not further 
contribute to a loss of trust of the Iraqi people, goodwill of 
the Arab world or among our allies in the war against 
terrorism.

                                   Ike Skelton.
                                   John Spratt.
                                   Solomon P. Ortiz.
                                   Lane Evans.
                                   Gene Taylor.
                                   Neil Abercrombie.
                                   Marty Meehan.
                                   Silvestre Reyes.
                                   Vic Snyder.
                                   Jim Turner.
                                   Adam Smith.
                                   Loretta Sanchez.
                                   Mike McIntyre.
                                   Ciro D. Rodriguez.
                                   Ellen O. Tauscher.
                                   Robert A. Brady.
                                   Baron P. Hill.
                                   John B. Larson.
                                   Susan A. Davis.
                                   James R. Langevin.
                                   Steve Israel.
                                   Rick Larsen.
                                   Jim Cooper.
                                   Kendrick B. Meek.
                                   Madeleine Z. Bordallo.
                                   Rodney Alexander.
                                   Tim Ryan.

                                  
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