http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/01/05/3_gop_senators_blast_bush_bid_to_bypass_torture_ban/3 GOP senators blast Bush bid to bypass torture ban
Reject assertion he has right to waive rules to protect US security
By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | January 5, 2006
WASHINGTON -- <snip>''I do not believe that any political figure in the country has the ability to set aside any . . . law of armed conflict that we have adopted or treaties that we have ratified," Graham said. ''If we go down that road, it will cause great problems for our troops in future conflicts because
is to prevent other nations' leaders from doing the same."
<snip>''That power was explicitly sought by the White House, and it was considered and rejected by the Congress," she said. ''And any US official who relies on legal advice from a government lawyer saying there is a presidential override of a law passed by Congress does so at their peril. Cruel inhuman and degrading treatment is illegal."
But Golove said that it is politically unlikely that Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales would prosecute an official for taking an action Bush ordered him to take. Still, he said, Congress has a number of tools for compelling the president to obey the law. Congress can withhold funds for programs. It can subpoena administration officials to testify under oath. It can pass stricter laws or block legislation Bush needs. In an extreme and politically unlikely scenario, it can impeach the president.<snip>
The (Bush's interpretation of) provision stripped courts of the jurisdiction to hear most lawsuits from detainees held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Citing that provision, the administration said this week that it would ask courts to dismiss more than 180 Guantanamo lawsuits.
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