marincounty
Diamond Member
Voting yes were 45 Democrats and 5 Republicans and one independent, Voting no were 1 Democrat, 43 Republicans and 1 independent.
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John McCain, who claims he is against torture, voted no.
Forty-three Republican Senators voted NO, in other words they are in favor of torture.
So much for those that argue there is no difference between the parties, I would say this is a clear difference.
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The Senate voted today to prevent the CIA from using waterboarding and other coercive interrogation techniques that are not allowed under U.S. Army regulations.
The provision, part of a larger bill that was previously approved by the House, now goes to President Bush, who has threatened to veto the measure. It passed the Senate on a 51-to-45 vote.
The move to ban coercive techniques at the CIA follows two weeks of public debate over the agency's use of waterboarding, a type of simulated drowning, on three al-Qaeda prisoners in 2002 and 2003.
It also comes in the same week that the Bush administration announced plans to try six prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for alleged involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Five of the six were subjected to harsh CIA tactics, which included sleep deprivation, extremes of hot and cold and, in one case, waterboarding.
Congress had previously banned waterboarding and other harsh tactics for use in the military through the Detainee Treatment Act of 2006, which was sponsored by GOP presidential candidate John McCain (R-Ariz.). But the Bush administration maintained that the law did not apply to the CIA and other intelligence agencies, leading to today's vote.
Under the legislation, the CIA would be restricted to using 19 interrogation techniques outlined in the U.S. Army Field Manual for Human Intelligence Collection.
CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said in testimony last week that the agency no longer uses waterboarding and that it is unclear whether the tactic would be allowed under current law.
But Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey has refused to say whether the technique might be legal, and other Bush administration officials have indicated that they want to preserve the CIA's ability to use harsh tactics.
But the vote drew praise from human rights groups and civil liberties advocates, who argue that the CIA's use of waterboarding amounts to torture in violation of U.S. laws and international treaty obligations.
"This legislation will ensure that the United States no longer employs interrogation methods it would condemn if used by our enemies against captured Americans," said Elisa Massimino, Washington director of Human Rights First.
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John McCain, who claims he is against torture, voted no.
Forty-three Republican Senators voted NO, in other words they are in favor of torture.
So much for those that argue there is no difference between the parties, I would say this is a clear difference.
Text
The Senate voted today to prevent the CIA from using waterboarding and other coercive interrogation techniques that are not allowed under U.S. Army regulations.
The provision, part of a larger bill that was previously approved by the House, now goes to President Bush, who has threatened to veto the measure. It passed the Senate on a 51-to-45 vote.
The move to ban coercive techniques at the CIA follows two weeks of public debate over the agency's use of waterboarding, a type of simulated drowning, on three al-Qaeda prisoners in 2002 and 2003.
It also comes in the same week that the Bush administration announced plans to try six prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for alleged involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Five of the six were subjected to harsh CIA tactics, which included sleep deprivation, extremes of hot and cold and, in one case, waterboarding.
Congress had previously banned waterboarding and other harsh tactics for use in the military through the Detainee Treatment Act of 2006, which was sponsored by GOP presidential candidate John McCain (R-Ariz.). But the Bush administration maintained that the law did not apply to the CIA and other intelligence agencies, leading to today's vote.
Under the legislation, the CIA would be restricted to using 19 interrogation techniques outlined in the U.S. Army Field Manual for Human Intelligence Collection.
CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said in testimony last week that the agency no longer uses waterboarding and that it is unclear whether the tactic would be allowed under current law.
But Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey has refused to say whether the technique might be legal, and other Bush administration officials have indicated that they want to preserve the CIA's ability to use harsh tactics.
But the vote drew praise from human rights groups and civil liberties advocates, who argue that the CIA's use of waterboarding amounts to torture in violation of U.S. laws and international treaty obligations.
"This legislation will ensure that the United States no longer employs interrogation methods it would condemn if used by our enemies against captured Americans," said Elisa Massimino, Washington director of Human Rights First.
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