NPR: Senate Votes to Prevent CIA Using Waterboarding

Senate Votes to Prevent CIA Using Waterboarding

The Senate this afternoon voted to join the House and prevent the Central Intelligence Agency from using waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques." The Senate bill requires the CIA to stick with the 19 interrogation techniques outlined in the Army field manual.

Republican Sen. Kit Bond, vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that the CIA has used enhanced interrogation techniques on "maybe three dozen" detainees, but if the Senate voted to stop the procedure, it would dry up the most valuable source of information available to the intelligence community. But Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller said that in all the briefings he had attended in his role as head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he saw no evidence to back up the intelligence community's need for the enhanced techniques. He also said that by preventing these techniques it would increase America's security.

Sen. John McCain, who has been an outspoken opponent of waterboarding, voted against the Senate's measure to restrict the CIA from using it.

CIA Director Michael Hayden has said waterboarding may not be legal under current law. President Bush has threatened to veto any bill that limits CIA interrogation techniques.

Meanwhile, NPR's Ari Shapiro talked to U.S. Attorney General Mike Mukasey about this first three months in office, including the controversy over waterboarding.

7:03 PM ET | 02-13-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Hello Mr. Mc Cain....so much for your straight talk!!! Tell me why should I vote for Mc Cain when he has to vote against a resolution that he has every reason to support. Why should we believe that he would be a great president even on national security issues, when he has to stoop so low to pander to some elements in his party?

Sent by Siva | 11:15 AM ET | 02-14-2008

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