WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and Congress are on a collision course over legislation that essentially would require certain terrorism suspects to be held in military custody, and a veto threat appeared to have no effect.
The White House argues that such a law would limit flexibility in handling such cases and erect walls between law enforcement agencies that authorities have been trying to dismantle since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
But on Tuesday, the Senate disregarded Obama’s veto threat and rejected an amendment to the defense bill from Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., that would have shelved the detainee provisions until a study could be conducted.
“The least we can do is take our time, be diligent and hear from those who will be affected by these new significant changes in how we interrogate and prosecute terrorists,” Udall said on the Senate floor.
The Udall amendment drew support from civil-liberties groups but was defeated on a rare bipartisan vote, 61-37.
Sixteen Democrats and one independent joined almost all Republicans to uphold the detainee provisions. Two Republicans — Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois — along with 34 Democrats and one independent voted to strip the provisions.
“After a decade of settled jurisprudence on detention authority, Congress must be careful not to open a whole new series of legal questions that will distract from our efforts to protect the country,” the White House wrote in a message to congressional leaders this month.
The defense bill is must-pass legislation covering a wide range of Pentagon policy. It sets annual pay for troops and funding levels for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and commits to weapons systems and other military contracts.
Supporters argued that the provisions merely put into law the government’s ability to detain terrorism suspects, as has been done since the 9/11 attacks.
Civil libertarians warn that the detainee provisions give the government far-reaching power to patrol U.S. streets and detain U.S. citizens indefinitely.
