Our Responsibility to End Torture

None of us can forget the images from Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad that shocked our nation nearly two years ago and stained the United States in the eyes of the world. The American people suddenly realized an unpleasant truth - the cruel practice of torture had infected the ranks of the world's finest military.

Finally, on October 5th, by an overwhelming vote of 90-9, the Senate passed strict provisions as part of the Defense Appropriations Bill that would take the current military regulations against torture and turn them into law. And President Bush has threatened to veto the Defense Appropriation Bill unless the provisions are dropped.

The President is not above the law, and neither is his Administration.

It's wrong for the current House Republican leadership to turn that historic body into a rubber stamp for the Administration's abhorrent position on torture. I call on my Congressional representatives to take a strong stand against torture, just as the Senate has.

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