Washington, DC – Today, by a vote of 78-21, the Senate passed an amendment to National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that limits U.S. intelligence gatherers to the use of interrogation techniques permitted by the U.S. Army Field Manual. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), who formerly served on the Senate Intelligence Committee and helped to author a report on the use of torture by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), issued the following statement on the vote:
“President Bush and Vice President Cheney took us down a dark path to torture, staining America’s reputation in the world and ultimately putting Americans at greater risk. With this vote, we’ve sent a clear signal that the rule of law is a vital bulwark against those who would do us harm. By adopting the Army Field Manual as our standard, we’ve made a bipartisan commitment to the most effective and professional interrogation techniques available, and ensured that the United States does not torture again.”
Whitehouse was the principal sponsor of a similar amendment requiring the CIA and all other U.S. intelligence agencies to follow the Army Field Manual in interrogations in May 2007, as part of Intelligence Authorization bill for Fiscal Year 2008.
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