FCNL: Gonzales Vote Exceeds Expectations: Time to Say Thanks

[Tace]

From the Friends Committee On National Legislation:

The final vote is in. After the Senate Judiciary Committee sent President Bush’s nomination of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales to the Senate floor, recommending confirmation by a 10 to 8 vote, the Senate conducted three days of vigorous debate. Those in favor of the nomination stressed Gonzales’ life story and Hispanic heritage and his work ethic and career accomplishments. Those opposed detailed his failure to put the brakes on the unfolding policy to use brutal interrogation methods on detainees from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and his cavalier attitude toward the rule of law in recommending that the President may ignore statute and treaty. Opponents to the nomination also noted Gonzales’ support for only selective application of the Geneva Conventions in modern warfare and his refusal to submit to congressional oversight, exemplified by his lack of responsiveness to Judiciary Committee questions.

On Thursday, February 3, 2005, the Senate confirmed Alberto Gonzales by a vote of 60 to 36. The vote broke down mostly by party line, with Independent Jeffords (VT) joining those in opposition, and 5 Democrats (Landrieu (LA), Lieberman (CT), Nelson (NE), Nelson (FL), Pryor (AR), and Salazar (CO)) voting in favor of the nomination. (Baucus (MT), Burns (MT), Conrad (ND), and Inouye (HI) did not vote.)

Although the administration prevailed in the final confirmation tally, this vote illustrates the solid foundation of support anti-torture advocacy has in the Senate. We have 36 senators who form a core of energy and action for legislation to outlaw torture by U.S. personnel anywhere in the world. The senators voting against Alberto Gonzales’ confirmation were:

AR:Lincoln CA: Boxer,Feinstein
CT: Dodd DE: Biden, Carper
HI: Akaka IA: Harkin

IL: Durbin, Obama IN: Bayh
MA: Kennedy, Kerry MD: Mikulski, Sarbanes
MI: Levin, Stabenow MN: Dayton
ND: Dorgan NJ: Corzine, Lautenberg
NM: Bingaman NV: Reid
NY: Clinton, Schumer OR: Wyden
RI: Reed SD: Johnson
VT: Leahy, Jeffords WA: Cantwell, Murray
WI: Feingold, Kohl WV: Byrd, Rockefeller

These senators are our base in the Senate in the drive to eliminate brutal interrogations. If you are a constituent of one of these Senators, write them and say, "Thank you for taking this public stand against torture!" Tell your senator that you are a constituent and that you appreciated his or her "no" vote on the Gonzales confirmation. Here’s a link to a sample letter to get you started, but use your own words and speak from the heart: http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=6912856

What about the rest of the senators – those who voted in favor of confirmation? They may have voted in favor of Gonzales’ confirmation for any of a number of reasons. Although you may be disappointed with the vote of one of your senators on the Gonzales nomination, in future votes, each senator will have new opportunities to say no to torture. Advocacy groups are beginning to call on Congress to establish an independent commission to examine U.S. policy on interrogation and detention and recommend corrective actions. Other issues that will be front and center in the weeks to come include "ghost detainees," International Committee of the Red Cross access to all U.S.-held prisoners, and U.S. transfer of detainees to countries that practice torture. Your senator may be a helpful ally in this work. Our work has just begun, and work we will!

For further information about torture and about the Gonzales nomination, visit FCNL’s web site section at http://www.fcnl.org/issues/issue.php?issue_id=70

If you want to read all or part of the floor debate on the Gonzales nomination, you can access the Congressional Record through http://thomas.loc.gov (the Library of Congress website for congressional information).
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We seek a world free of war and the threat of war
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[BeFree]

1. 36 brave peacekeepers, all Dems

Too bad NO pugs are peacekeepers. What a shame, I guess they are so partisan that they can't rise their heads' from their holes'.

Glad to see a group actively involved in stopping the torture, I'm sure they will prevail, I hope.

Peace