H.R. 2658. Fiscal 2004 Defense Appropriations/Procedural Vote to Defeat an Amendment Designed to Identify U.S. Military Intentions on the Legal Handling of Detained Individuals.
senate Roll Call 279
Jul 16, 2003
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Among other things, the U.S. PATRIOT Act allows the military to retain military combatants indefinitely even if they have not been officially charged with a crime. In the view of Progressives, such detentions flagrantly violate the civil and legal rights of those detainees. During debate on the 2004 defense appropriations bill, Senator Bingaman (D-NM) introduced an amendment which would have required the military to account for every enemy combatant currently in U.S. captivity. Specifically, Bingaman's amendment would have required a report on each enemy combatant's name and nationality and whether the U.S. military intends to charge, repatriate, or release that individual. Progressives supported Bingaman's amendment as a way to pressure the military establishment into either formally charging enemy combatants with a crime or releasing them if criminal or terrorist activity could not be proved in court. Senator Stevens (R-AK) motioned to table (kill) Bingaman's amendment and the motion was adopted on a nearly party-line vote of 52-42 thereby defeating Bingaman's measure. |
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