Written by Kelly Kinkade | 09 April 2010

On March 4, 2010, Senator McCain introduced bill S. 3081, known as the “Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010.” S. 3081 is supported by Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Brown of Massachusetts, Mr. Sessions and four other senators.

The official purpose of S. 3081 is, “To provide for the interrogation and detention of enemy belligerents who commit hostile acts against the United States, to establish certain limitations on the prosecution of such belligerents for such acts, and for other purposes.”

The bill, however, would allow detainment without trial for citizens of the United States as well as non-citizens. Section 3 (c) (2) would empower the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General as the final authority in determining who is an “unprivileged enemy belligerent for purposes of this Act.”

If any person is deemed an “unprivileged enemy belligerent” he could be held without trial and interrogated indefinitely. Section 5 of the bill is explicit, “An individual, including a citizen of the United States, determined to be an unprivileged enemy belligerent under section 3(c)(2) [and according to the Geneva Convention] may be detained without criminal charges and without trial for the duration of hostilities against the United States.”

This bill would mean an American citizen could be determined to be an enemy solely by the executive branch of the government. The Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General are both appointed by the President of the United States. These positions are not elected, so they are less accountable to the American people.

S. 3081 has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. The committee is chaired by Mr. Leahy of Vermont. This is the first step in the legislative process. Bills must be debated and passed by the committee before consideration by the full Senate. Most bills never make it out of committee, so the committee is the easiest place to stop a bill from becoming law.

For the full text of the bill:  http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-3081