Schakowsky Applauds President Obama's Decision to Close Guantanamo Bay and Ban the use of Torture

SCHAKOWSKY APPLAUDS PRESIDENT OBAMA'S DECISION TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO BAY AND BAN THE USE OF TORTURE

Washington, D.C.–U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, released the following statement today after President Obama signed three executive orders into law to close down secret prisons, ban the use of coercive interrogation techniques, and close down the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.

"Madame Speaker, as a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, I rise today to express my strong support for President Obama's decision to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, order the Central Intelligence Agency to stop using coercive tactics while interrogating suspects, and to close secret prisons. Last year, I offered an amendment that would have prohibited the CIA from using torture as an interrogation technique. I was forced to withdraw this amendment when it became clear that the Bush Administration would veto the Intelligence Authorization bill because of my provision.

The Executive Orders signed today by President Obama signal to the world that the United States will no longer be a nation that tolerates torture or holds people without due process, and will restore the rule of law. Over the last eight years, the United States government has acted in a manner that is inconsistent with our nation's values by suspending Habeas Corpus, ignoring the rule of law, and undermining the U.S. Constitution. Under the banner of the "war on terror,... the Bush Administration also sanctioned the use of torture as an interrogation technique. We now know that the use of tactics such as waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques are at best ineffective and at worst counterproductive to America's national security. Even if not subjected to torture, many detainees have been at Guantanamo Bay for years without being charged. As President Obama said during his inauguration speech,

"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers ... faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake....

That is why I am so pleased that one of President Obama's first decisions in office was to reverse these misguided policies by closing Guantanamo Bay and secret prisons, directing Central Intelligence Agency interrogators to follow guidelines set forth in the Army Field Manual when conducting interrogations. I have been to Guantanamo Bay and witnessed firsthand the harsh conditions detainees face there. I have also met with attorneys from Chicago who represent detainees, who have also shared horrific stories of the treatment their clients have experienced at Guantanamo. We know they are not all "bad guys" (as described by Gen. Geoffrey Miller to me on my first visit in 2003) but rather some are perfectly innocent men arrested in exchange for a bounty. These experiences and stories have strengthened my conviction that Guantanamo must be closed because it undermines the very principles that we are fighting to protect and has made us less secure.

I strongly believe that America posses' the capability to protect its citizens while also following the law. This view is not only held by President, but also by General Petraeus, who in a 2007 memo to the troops wrote:

"Some may argue that we would be more effective if we sanctioned torture or other expedient methods to obtain information from the enemy. They would be wrong. Beyond the basic fact that such actions are illegal, history shows that they also are frequently neither useful nor necessary…In fact, our experience in applying the interrogation standards laid out in the Army Field Manual (2-22.3) on Human Intelligence Collector Operations that was published last year shows that the techniques in the manual work effectively and humanely in eliciting information from detainees.

President Obama's decision to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and order that the CIA adhere to the Army Field Manual symbolizes a departure from the disastrous policies of the Bush Administration and a return to America's core values. By signing these Executive Orders today, President Obama has taken a significant step toward restoring our nation's credibility around the world.

Thank you Madame Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time....