Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing, with my colleague Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, the Detention of Enemy Combatants Act to provide authorization for the detainment of "enemy combatants" in the war on terrorism while guaranteeing that they are granted timely access to legal counsel and judicial review.
In the war on terrorism, the term enemy combatant has been broadly defined. In some cases, American citizens have been deemed ``enemy combatants'' and incarcerated indefinitely without access to counsel or the courts. This has resulted in an unprecedented accretion of power over American citizens.
After the shameful internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, we must be vigilant to protect against the government's decision to detain, perhaps indefinitely, any American without adequate review of the basis of its decision.
Inspired in party by the internment of Japanese Americans and by the anti-spying excesses of the Cold War, Congress in 1971 passed an Act providing that "no citizens shall be imprisoned or otherwise detained by the United States except pursuant to an Act of Congress." Congress has yet to authorize the detention of citizens in the war on terrorism, yet American citizens have in fact been detained as enemy combatants.
For this reason, my colleague Mr. Frank and I are introducing the Detention of Enemy Combatants Act, authorizing the government to detain an enemy combatant who is a United States person or resident who is a member of al Qaeda, or knowingly cooperated with a member of al Qaeda in the planning, authorizing, committing, aiding, or abetting of one or more terrorist acts against the United States. Furthermore, our bill requires that detainees be guaranteed timely access to legal counsel and meaningful judicial review to challenge the basis for a detention.
While we must grant broad latitude to our armed forces when it comes to protecting national security, American citizens should not be held indefinitely upon the sole determination of one branch of government without access to counsel or judicial review of those determinations. We must ensure that we do not sacrifice the Constitutional rights we pledged to uphold, and without which, none of us are safe from unwarranted intrusions on our liberty.
Mr. Speaker, in sum, the Detention of Enemy Combatants Act will provide for clear standards and procedures under which American citizens or lawful residents believed to be members of al Qaeda or its supporters may be detained as enemy combatants while also provided due process.