|
The Senate voted
78-21 for the amendment to the National Defense Authorization
bill offered by Republican Senator John McCain and Democrat
Dianne Feinstein.
Some 32 Republicans joined every member of the Democratic caucus
to back the legislation. All 21 no votes were from Republicans.
"This amendment provides greater assurances that never again
will the United States follow that dark path of sacrificing our
values for our short-term security needs," said McCain, who was
tortured in the 1960s as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and has
worked for years to end the practice.
Feinstein led a years-long Senate Intelligence Committee
investigation of the CIA's use of waterboarding, rectal feeding
and other brutal techniques on foreign terrorism suspects in the
wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
That report was released six months ago, after a bitter fight
between Feinstein and other Democrats and Republicans who
accused Democrats of pursuing the issue because the
interrogations in question had taken place under Republican
President George W. Bush.
The amendment will not become law until the defense bill passes
both the Senate and House of Representatives, and the House
would have to back the measure. If it passes, it would make it
much more difficult for a future president to reinstate the use
of the degrading methods.
The amendment restricts interrogation techniques for all U.S.
entities to what is included in the U.S. Army Field Manual and
requires access for the International Community of the Red Cross
to detainees in U.S. government custody.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by David Gregorio)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
