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An affirmation of American values
A Times Editorial
Published December 16, 2005
It was a proud moment for the nation - but, sad to say, not for Florida's senior congressman, C.W. Bill Young of Indian Shores - when the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in support of Sen. John McCain's amendment to ban the torture of detainees in American custody. The vote, 308-122, was an emphatic affirmation of true American values and brought the White House to terms with McCain.
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., spoke a simple but eloquent truth in support of his motion to instruct House conferees to accept McCain's Senate language in the defense appropriations bill.
"The words "torture,' "cruelty' and "abuse' elicit images of draconian and brutal dictatorship," Murtha said. "They should never include the United States of America."
Young, who led the opposition to the Murtha motion, contends that the Senate language, even with Thursday's compromise, would extend the protections of the U.S. Constitution to terror suspects anywhere in the world. That is a strained interpretation with which few if any constitutional scholars would agree. Moreover, even if it did apply, how could it be wrong? Among the fundamental human rights protected by the Constitution is that people accused of any crime, however hideous, are innocent until proven guilty. Yes, even suspected terrorists deserve that presumption; if not, what differentiates us from them?
Overall, the Florida delegation rose to the moment, voting 15 to 9 with one absence in support of Murtha. It is noteworthy that eight Republicans joined all seven Democrats to part company with Young on that issue: Reps. Ginny Brown-Waite of Brooksville, Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Miami, Mark Foley of West Palm Beach, Katherine Harris of Sarasota, Ric Keller of Orlando, Connie Mack of Fort Myers, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami, and Clay Shaw of Fort Lauderdale. Congratulations to them, and shame on those who opposed it: Mike Bilirakis of Tarpon Springs, Ander Crenshaw of Jacksonville, Tom Feeney of Oviedo, John Mica of Winter Park, Jeff Miller of Chumuckla, Adam Putnam of Bartow, Cliff Stearns of Ocala and Dave Weldon of Palm Bay.
[Last modified December 16, 2005, 00:54:19]
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