By Shelley Moskowitz, manager of public policy and UUSC’s Washington representative.

The first session of the 109th Congress has finally ended. It’s been one of the longest and ugliest sessions in history.

On December 22, the House and Senate passed the final version of HR.2863, the FY2006 Department of Defense Appropriations bill, containing the original language proposed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). The bill prohibits cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of detainees in the custody or control of the U.S. government, regardless of nationality or physical location. It also sets forth a uniform standard for interrogation of persons under detention as set forth in the U.S. Army Field Manual on Intelligence. President Bush will soon sign into law a bill that he and his administration have bitterly fought against for months.

Normally such policy language would be found on an authorization bill and not on an appropriations bill. But these are not normal times. Back in July, the White House threatened to veto the entire Defense Authorization bill (S.1042) if the McCain language was added. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) responded to the threat by pulling the bill off the floor because it was clear that Sen. McCain’s amendment had overwhelming support.

Sen. McCain refused to back down. He broke with Senate tradition to offer his amendment on the Defense Appropriations bill, which funds all military activity and is considered a “must sign” bill. On October 5, the Senate voted 90-9 in favor of the McCain amendment. Since the House had passed its version of the Defense Appropriations bill (H.R.2863) earlier in the year without the McCain language, the bill was sent to a conference committee to hammer out the differences. For the next 10 weeks, Vice President Dick Cheney and other White House lobbyists conducted backroom negotiations in an attempt to strong-arm Congress into adding a presidential waiver or CIA exemption to allow torture. On December 14, the House voted 308-122 for the conferees to accept the Senate version of the bill. With McCain’s veto-proof majority in the Senate and the House firmly on the record, the White House backed down and accepted the original McCain language on December 15.

But this isn’t the end of the story. On November 10, Sen. Frist brought the Defense Authorization bill (S.1042) back to the floor. Sen. McCain’s amendment was immediately adopted by voice vote. During the same session, conservative Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) gained approval of a less-publicized amendment to take away all habeas corpus rights from detainees. The vote was 49-42. Democrats voting for the Graham amendment include Sens. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and Ron Wyden of Oregon. Four days later, Sens. Landrieu and Wyden reversed themselves by supporting the amendment proposed by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) to strip the Graham habeas corpus language completely from the bill. It was defeated 44-54. A compromise measure crafted by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Graham ultimately passed 84-14. It permitted habeas corpus rights, but only for prisoners sentenced to death or more than 10 years of detention. That means that a person who has been wrongfully arrested and sentenced by a military court could remain at Guantánamo Bay for up to 10 years with no court review at all.

The Defense Authorization bill was then sent to the House-Senate conference committee where, for the next month, the White House conducted behind-the-scenes lobbying. New language was added to the final Defense Authorization conference report that was never discussed or voted on by either the House or Senate, such as new protections to shield interrogators from possible prosecution and permission for the U.S. government to pay legal fees if there is such a prosecution. In the end, the compromise Graham-Levin language was included in the final bill (H.R.1815), which passed in the House in the wee hours of December 19 and in the Senate on December 21.

It is clear that the grassroots’ cry to "Stop torture now" has dramatically raised the profile of this important human rights issue and forced White House officials to expose themselves as torture advocates. It is also clear that continued education and activism is needed. Congress will return for the second session of Congress on January 31, 2006.

Read how Congress approved a new law against torture.