40 Members of Congress Say No to Indefinite Detention of Americans

This week, U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich (NM-1) and I, and more than 35 colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives, sent an urgent letter to House and Senate Armed Services Committee leaders and conferees opposing provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act that would authorize indefinite detention of Americans and tie the hands of domestic law enforcement in terrorism cases.

The letter opposed Sec. 1034 of the House-passed defense authorization and Secs. 1031 and 1032 of the Senate-passed bill.

Sec. 1034 of the House bill would authorize the use of military force against broadly defined adversaries substantially exceeding the scope of such authorizations already in law. The expanded authority would have no geographical limits and provide authority for open-ended armed conflict.

Sec. 1031 of the Senate bill would authorize indefinite military detention of suspected terrorists without protecting U.S. citizens' right to trial. Sec. 1032 of the Senate bill would require that suspected foreign terrorists be taken into custody by the military instead of civilian law enforcement authorities, denying civilian law enforcement authorities the flexibility necessary to conduct effective counterterrorism operations.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-hank-johnson/40-members-of-congress-sa_b_1147042.html