After Confirming Mukasey, Will Dems Pass Law Making Waterboarding And Other Torture Illegal?
November 6, 2007 -- 2:10 PM EST // //
Okay, there's a big test looming for Congressional Dems, as well as for several of the Dem Presidential candidates, and it'll be interesting to see how they handle it.
As you know Michael Mukasey is on his way to almost certain confirmation as Attorney General, despite his unwillingness to say whether he thinks waterboarding is torture. Congressional Dem leaders who support him -- such as Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein -- have been careful to declare that in spite of this they really, really do oppose waterboarding and think it's torture.
Well, Dems are now going to have another chance to prove this.
Check out this little nugget buried in an Op ed piece that Schumer published in today's New York Times explaining his support for Mukasey:
Judge Mukasey’s refusal to state that waterboarding is illegal was unsatisfactory to me and many other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Congress is now considering — and I hope we will soon pass — a law that would explicitly ban the use of waterboarding and other abusive interrogation techniques. And I am confident that Judge Mukasey would enforce that law.Did you know that Congress was considering a law that would "explicitly ban" waterboarding and other extreme techniques? This has flown kind of under the radar, but it turns out that there are two such bills before Congress right now. One is a measure being sponsored by Senator Ted Kennedy; the other is being sponsored by Senator Joe Biden. Both unequivocally ban waterboarding and other torture practices.
Schumer says he supports this law. So now the question is, Where are other Dems on it, and will it be allowed to come to a vote? I emailed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's spokesman, Jim Manley, and asked him whether the leadership backed the law and whether he could guarantee that it would come to a vote. Here's his answer:
There is no doubt waterboarding is torture and it is illegal. Senator Reid supports reaffirming that important principle in law. I don't know yet where that amendment will be offered, but I expect we will consider it soon.In other words, Reid supports the law but leadership can't say yet when it will go to a vote. Fine -- there's a lot going on in the Senate today.
This is a real chance for Dems who oppose waterboarding to prove it once and for all -- by calling strongly and unequivocally for one of these measures to go to the floor, and then by voting for it. Doing this amounts to a declaration that waterboarding is in fact torture, is illegal, and must be stopped -- period.
As Atrios and Andrew Sullivan noted today, there's a new CNN poll out that finds that a very solid majority -- 58% -- oppose the waterboarding of terrorists. The question, as always, is: What will Dems do once Mr. Less-Popular-President-Than-Nixon and other conservatives haul out the Dems-fellate-terrorists rhetoric? How will Obama (who at first dragged his feet in opposing Mukasey) and Hillary (who still has stopped short of saying whether she thinks waterboarding is torture) handle this? What about other Congressional Dems?
This one bears watching.
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