WASHINGTON, D.C. - Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), author of the Detention of Enemy Combatants Act, released a statement calling on Congress to act on the issue of enemy combatants in the wake of today’s announcement that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the Padilla case. Jose Padilla is an American citizen who was arrested in Chicago in May 2002 and was later designated as an enemy combatant. He has been held for nearly two years without judicial review.
Schiff issued the following statement:
"In the wake of Congressional inaction on the issue of enemy combatants, the Supreme Court has now stepped into the void. It is important that the President have the authority to detain enemy combatants - and essential that this authority be reviewable. No one branch of government should have the power to detain an American indefinitely and without judicial review. That the Court has decided to accept these cases and delineate the due process to be afforded is understandable; that it was required to do so because of Congressional abdication is regrettable. Congress still has an opportunity to act and it should - a hearing on the Detention of Enemy Combatants Bill would be an important start."
The Detention of Enemy Combatants Act (H.R. 1029) authorizes detentions providing that the Administration establish 1) clear standards and criteria for labeling citizens as enemy combatants, 2) procedures guaranteeing access to counsel and timely judicial review and 3) Congressional oversight over all detentions of U.S. citizens.
"After our experience with the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, we must be vigilant to protect against the government’s decision to detain any American without adequate review of the basis of its decision. 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," Rep. Schiff added.
Rep. Schiff is the co-founder of the Democratic Study Group on National Security and a member of both the House Judiciary and International Relations Committees. Schiff brings a wealth of experience to this discussion of enemy combatants as a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted terrorism and espionage cases, including the first case of an FBI agent indicted for spying against the United States.