WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Wednesday to ban waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics used by the CIA, matching a previous House vote and putting Congress on a collision course with the White House over a pivotal national security issue.
In a 51-45 vote, the Senate approved an intelligence bill that limits the CIA to using 19 less-aggressive interrogation tactics outlined in the U.S. Army Field Manual. The measure would effectively ban the use of simulated drowning, temperature extremes, forced standing, and other harsh tactics that the CIA used on al-Qaeda prisoners following the Sept. 11 attacks.
President Bush has vowed to veto the legislation, which the House approved in December, and Congress may not have adequate votes to override the veto.
The move to ban coercive techniques at the CIA follows two weeks of intense public debate over the agency’s use of waterboarding, a type of simulated drowning, on three al-Qaeda prisoners in 2002 and 2003.
Steven G. Bradbury, who heads the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, is expected to testify today that waterboarding is not now legal — the first time the department has publicly stated such.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
