Military Commissions Act

Bob Menendez and Frank Lautenberg both voted in favor of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 which was passed by the U.S. Senate on September 28, by a vote of 65-34.

Herb Jackson posts this comment from Tom Kean on the passage of the bill:

"I would have voted with Senators Graham, Warner and McCain who believe enemy combatants have appropriate due process under this legislation. I am pleased the Senate passed the bill. The version passed by the Senate respects the guidelines of the Geneva Convention, and will help us to defeat terrorism in a manner that protects our soldiers and other heroes while respecting American values and principles."

Once again the folks at Blue Jersey display their complete disregard of the facts with this:

The first thing to note is that Kean Jr. is pleased that the President of the United States will be authorized to, with the stroke of a secret pen, arrest, detain and torture any American citizen without judicial review.

Presumably Menendez and Lautenberg are also pleased or they wouldn’t have voted for the bill. More importantly, nothing could be more false than the notion that this bill would permit American citizens to be arrested, detained or tortured. If you notice Blue Jersey doesn’t provide a link to the bill, or cite provisions of the act to back up their hysterical claim.

The act applies to alien unlawful enemy combatants as clearly stated in the law. From the
Military Commissions Act of 2006:

Sec.948a. Definitions
ALIEN- The term alien means a person who is not a citizen of the United States.

Sec.948c. Persons subject to military commissions
`Any alien unlawful enemy combatant is subject to trial by military commission under this chapter.