AP: Dems Likely to Resurrect Detainee Issue

[Eugene]

Dems Likely to Resurrect Detainee Issue

By ANNE FLAHERTY
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 28, 2006; 2:43 PM

WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats plan to use their newfound power to revisit
one of the most contentious national security matters of 2006: Deciding what
legal rights must be protected for detainees held in the war on terrorism.

In September, Congress passed a bill that gave President Bush wide latitude in
interrogating and detaining captured enemy combatants. The legislation, backed
by the White House, prompted more than three months of debate _ exposing
Republican fissures and prompting angry rebukes by Democrats of the
administration's interrogation policies.

With the Nov. 7 elections handing control to the Democrats, the issue is far from
settled. A group of Senate Democrats and one Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter of
Pennsylvania, want to resurrect the bill to fix at least one provision they say
threatens the nation's credibility on human rights issues.

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The proposed revisions to the terrorism detainee bill could surface in the new
Congress early in the year, staffers say _ with new sympathetic ears in leadership
and a slim Democratic majority in Congress.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/28/AR2006122800719.html