FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, September 29, 2006

Isakson Praises Passage of Legislation Outlining Treatment of Terrorism Suspects

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) today praised the Senate’s passage of legislation that would establish laws governing the treatment and military trials for terrorist suspects. The Senate passed the bill last night by a vote of 65 to 34.

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that directed enemy combatants to be covered under the Geneva Convention required the U.S. Congress to expeditiously lay out terms under which tribunals can be conducted within the confines of the Convention,” Isakson said. “The legislation passed by the Senate allows for appropriate interrogation and lets the U.S. finally try enemy combatants at Guantanamo by military tribunal, while also respecting the process of the Geneva Convention .” 

In response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the legislation creates military commissions for the prosecution of enemy combatants and preserves the terrorist interrogation program. The legislation defines an enemy combatant as one who “has engaged in hostilities or who has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States” in the war on terror.

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