On Tuesday, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) introduced legislation to create a National Commission on Presidential War Powers and Civil Liberties to investigate unlawful detention and interrogation techniques that were supported by the Bush administration.
According to a Judiciary Committee press release, the commission would establish "a Blue Ribbon Commission comprised of experts outside government service to investigate the broad range of policies of the Bush administration that were undertaken by the Bush administration under claims of unreviewable war powers." The proposed commission would have subpeona power and a $3-million budget. Full text of H.R. 104 is here (PDF).
As Elana Schor at TPM notes, this isn't the first bill of its type that has been proposed to congress. A similar bill authored by Carl Levin in 2005 is still kicking around, and because Conyers' bill only has 10 co-sponsors, Schor says it's likely that H.R. 104 will have a similar fate. Traditionally, those long odds might call for picking up a pen and writing your local congressman - and that's still a good option - but joining the H.R. 104 Facebook group is a whole lot easier.
More articles by Mark Boyer
Even Republicans want Cheney to go back into hiding
Mark Boyer
Wilkerson dishes truths on Gitmo, Cheney
Mark Boyer
President Obama’s FOIA Memo Sets a Tone of Transparency
Mark Boyer
Announcing In These Times’ New Agreement with the National Writers Union
Freelance contributors are essential to the quality and success of In These Times and independent media, and this agreement is one way to demonstrate their value to our publication and our commitment to transparency.
For more information about the National Writers Union, visit nwu.org.
Read the full agreement, which reaffirms a floor for the rates of our freelance editorial content, as well as our current rates (which are higher) and submissions guidelines below.