Recently, I wrote a letter to Senator Salazar, (D)-Colorado, to voice my dismay at his Yea vote for S. 3930.  Below is the reply.  It took 10-14 days to send the reply, suggesting that perhaps an actual person read it- some staffer, no doubt. It was addressed to my proper name, but for the blog I changed it to Gaussling.

Dear Gaussling[name changed to protect the innocent- Ed.]:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the detainment and treatment of prisoners captured by the U.S. in the war on terror. As you know, the Senate recently dealt with these issues during its consideration of S. 3930, the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

I voted for this legislation because I believe we need to jumpstart the process to determine the guilt or innocence of hundreds of people the Bush Administration has held in captivity and in limbo for years. Some of these individuals are guilty; others may not be. But until now, no process has been in place to move forward with these prisoners.

I fought the Bush Administration’s proposal to abandon the Geneva Convention and allow torture of persons in captivity. I joined with Democratic and Republican Senators to ensure that the final bill preserved the Geneva Convention and barred torture. The final bill also requires evidence to be shared with defendants so they have the ability to defend themselves and bars the use of any evidence obtained by torture.

The final bill has its faults. It does not include the right of habeas corpus for these prisoners. I fought to include the provisions of habeas corpus,and the Bush Administration and Republican leadership resisted these efforts. I will continue to fight so that these prisoners may petition the courts.

Finally, I voted for a Congressional review of the entire system within five years. This effort was defeated by the Republican leadership. Please be assured, though, that I will work with my colleagues to ensure that thorough oversight and a meaningful review of this legislation occurs.

Again, thank you for writing.

Sincerely,

Ken Salazar
United States Senator

Politics is about compromise.  Sen. Salazar’s motivation was to get something moving. I’m not privy to the details, so it is hazardous to second guess.  Still, I wish that the Democrats could have mustered more of a unified vote. Dems today seem to be just a tossed salad of left-leaning ideologies whose unifying trait is that they are not Republicans.

And speaking of Dems, the article in the current Atlantic about Hillary Clinton is very interesting and worth the time to read.