Mr. SCHIFF. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his courtesy today.
Mr. Chairman, I want to commend my colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher), for raising the important issue of detention and interrogation of terror suspects here on the House floor. I firmly agree that the executive must have the authority to capture, detain, and interrogate international terrorists to prevent future attacks and to process and punish those who have been captured.
Over a year ago, I traveled to Guantanamo Bay with the gentleman from North Carolina (Chairman COBLE) and other Judiciary Committee members. We toured the facility and recognized the critical work that our soldiers are performing. It was also clear that important intelligence is being derived from detainee interviews, and our service members have done difficult and courageous work guarding some of the most dangerous people in the world.
Nonetheless, Mr. Chairman, there is still a significant issue arising out of our Nation's policy of detentions at Guantanamo, namely, the lack of any congressional authorization or imprimatur upon the policies underlining those detentions.
Last month I introduced Guantanamo Detainees Procedures Act of 2005, legislation that would provide for the swift and deliberate processing and prosecution of detainees in that matter that meets all the country's national security needs and establishes due process standards.
Over 500 detainees are currently held at Guantanamo Bay, most of them captured in Afghanistan after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Some detainees have been there for more than 3 years without being charged.
My legislation would do the following: first, it would affirm that the executive has the power to detain foreign nationals as unlawful combatants. Second, it would provide for a timely hearing before an independent military judicial officer to review the designation of enemy combatant. Third, it would require the government to bring formal charges against detainees or to repatriate them to their country of origin unless there was substantial likelihood of torture, unless the Secretary of Defense certifies that additional time is needed to continue with the interrogation, that the person still remains a threat to the United States, and that by the bringing of formal charges it would curtail the intelligence gathering process.
Finally, it requires the Department of Defense to put the cases before tribunals that operate under clear standards and procedures. Finally, it would require annual reports to Congress on the status of all detainees.
Recently, I have been heartened by the bipartisan calls from Members of the Senate upon the Congress to forge legislation which specifically addresses the standards and procedures to be followed for military detainees. Frankly, I am surprised there are not more voices in Congress raising this issue that are not demanding that Congress act to set limits, not only in the detention of foreign nationals, but as in the case with Jose Padilla and Hamdi, on Americans or those that are lawfully residing in this country.
But I have found a new and powerful ally in the United States Supreme Court. As many know, the district and appellate courts have reached conflicting results about whether the executive's power to detain enemy combatants and under what conditions those powers can be used. Justice Scalia, in one of his dissenting opinions, commented, ``I frankly do not know whether the tools are sufficient to meet the government's security needs, including the need to obtain intelligence through interrogation. It is far beyond my competence or the Court's competence to determine that, but it is not beyond Congress's.''
We could not have, I think, a stronger admonition that we need to act in Congress. And I would ask my colleagues to consider legislation rather than the piecemeal decision-making by the courts. Article I, section 8 of the Constitution provides that the Congress, and not the President, has the power to make rules concerning captures on land and water, to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers vested in the Constitution in the Government of the United States, define and punish offenses against the law of nations and to constitute tribunals.
Mr. Chairman, a sense of Congress is good, but not enough. I urge my colleagues to examine my proposed legislation, a proposal that would affirm the executive's authority to detain foreign national terror suspects, but provide for the swift and deliberate processing and prosecution of detainees in a manner that protects our Nation and expresses our commitment to the rule of law. The Guantanamo Detainees Procedures Act of 2005 will ensure that the hallmark of our democracy is not compromised.