US Senate passes detainee photo bill
Senate passes detainee photo bill
Bill sponsor Lindsey Grapham says it will help protect American troops
By JAMES ROSEN – jrosen@mcclatchydc.com
WASHINGTON – Sen. Lindsey Graham urged the House on Thursday to follow the Senate in passing his bill prohibiting the release of classified photos showing abuse and humiliation of terror suspects held by the United States.
The Senate unanimously approved the Graham measure, co-sponsored by Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, late Wednesday
“They’re embarrassing, they’re inappropriate and they would be used by our enemies to put our troops in jeopardy,” Graham said of the photos.
Graham, R-S.C., said the photos were similar to those of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison, which caused an international uproar when they were released in 2004.
“Passing this bill is essential to protecting our fighting men and women,” Graham and Lieberman said Thursday in a joint statement. “Each one of these photos would be tantamount to a death sentence to those serving our nation in the most dangerous and difficult spots like Iran, Afghanistan and elsewhere.”
Obama initially supported releasing the photos – most of which Graham said depict detainees being held at U.S. prisons in Afghanistan – but changed course last month.
The Senate passed the Graham-Lieberman legislation banning the photos’ release as a stand-alone bill after Rahm Emanuel, White House chief of staff, called Graham earlier Wednesday and asked him to stop blocking a broader war spending measure.
Graham had vowed to filibuster that $106 million supplemental appropriations bill for Iraq and Afghanistan and hold up other Senate bills after the House Democratic leadership removed a Graham-Lieberman amendment barring release of the detainee photos.
The Graham-Lieberman amendment and a separate provision providing $1 billion to the auto industry had delayed passage of the war spending bill for days.
Graham said Obama promised to issue an executive order if necessary to ensure the controversial photos weren’t released.
Graham and Lieberman agreed to remove the photo-release ban from the war-spending bill and to offer it as free-standing legislation, which the Senate approved by voice vote Wednesday evening.
Free of the detainee-photo issue, the Senate on Thursday passed the war spending bill by a 91-5 vote.
Graham voted for the $106 million measure, while Sen. Jim DeMint voted against it.
DeMint’s aides said he opposed the bill because it contains “a 108 billion IMF bailout” and the $1 billion to help automakers.
“It is wrong to use our troops as an excuse to force through runaway spending and bad policies,” DeMint said.
The measure provides only $5 billion in direct funding to the International Monetary Fund, as part of a credit line that could go higher.
The Graham-Lieberman bill prohibits the release of the detainee photos for three years, with the defense secretary or the president authorized to extend the ban an additional three years.
Graham said a bill passed by Congress and signed by the president would carry more weight than an executive order.
Graham said Speaker Nancy Pelosi must overcome resistance from Rep. Barney Frank and other Democrats for his measure to pass in the House.
James Rosen covers Washington for McClatchy newspapers in South Carolina.
