Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg has cosponsored a bill intended to make it clear that U.S. citizens cannot be detained “without due process.”
The National Defense Authorization Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama, with reservations, last month. Critics contend that language in the bill is unconstitutional. From the National Journal:
Groups have decried the bill’s language that would allow indefinite detention for suspected terrorists without a trial – including Americans arrested in the United States. Supporters of the detainee provisions argue that the bill merely codifies existing law as it applies to Americans and legal resident aliens, as they retain the right to challenge their detention in court.
The issue came to the forefront at the Republican presidential debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C., earlier this week. When asked, frontrunner Mitt Romney said he would have signed the legislation. And, as the Wall Street Journal reported, he was booed for this response:
I do believe that it is appropriate to have in our nation the capacity to detain people who are threats to this country, who are members of al Qaeda.
Presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Ron Paul disagreed.
HR 3676, which was introduced by Jeffrey Landry, R.-La, and has bipartisan support, aims to clarify NDAA. In his statement, Rehberg calls the resolution a redundant but important measure:
“The United States Constitution ensures that citizens cannot be detained without due process, and as the highest law in the land, that right cannot and will not be tossed aside by any legislation passed by Congress. The Supreme Court has already ruled that habeas corpus cannot be denied for citizens. Current policy does not challenge this and the National Defense Authorization Act explicitly states that it does not change current policy. So while I’m confident that our Constitutional rights are quite safe, I’ve cosponsored this legislation to make Congressional intent even more clear than it already is.”