Victory for Administration as House Okays Terrorism Detainee Legislation

WASHINGTON — The House approved legislation yesterday giving the administration authority to interrogate and prosecute terrorism detainees, moving President Bush to the edge of a pre-election victory with a key piece of his plan to conduct his war on terror.

The 253–168 vote in the House came shortly after senators agreed to limit debate on their own nearly identical bill, all but assuring its passage on today.

Republican leaders are hoping to work out differences and send Mr. Bush a final version before leaving town this weekend to campaign for the November 7 congressional elections.

For nearly two weeks, the GOP have been embarrassed as the White House and some Republican senators have fought publicly over whether Mr. Bush's plan would give him too much authority. But they struck a compromise last Thursday, and Republicans are hoping that approval will bolster their effort to cast themselves as strong on national security, a marquee issue this election year.

Democrats opposed the bill by about a five-to-one margin, with many wanting to tone down the powers that it would give to Mr. Bush and the limits that it would impose on terror-war suspects' abilities to defend themselves during trials.

Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat of Ohio, said: "This bill is everything we don't believe in."

The bill also gives the president the ability to interpret international standards for prisoner treatment when an act does not fall under the definition of a war crime, such as rape and torture. Others vehemently opposed language that would give the president wide latitude to interpret international standards of prisoner treatment and bar detainees from going to federal court to protest their treatment and detention under the right of habeas corpus. Supporters of the bill have said eliminating habeas corpus was intended to keep detainees from flooding federal courts with appeals.

"It gives too much leeway to the president," Rep. John Murtha, a Democrat of Pennsylvania, said. "And I think when you tamper with the Geneva Conventions ... you hurt our ability to protect the troops."

Republicans defended the measure as sound. The House majority leader, Rep. John Boehner, a Republican of Ohio, all but dared Democrats to vote against the legislation.

"Will my Democrat friends work with Republicans to give the president the tools he needs to continue to stop terrorist attacks before they happen, or will they vote to force him to fight the terrorists with one arm tied behind his back?" he asked just before members cast their ballots.

The legislation would establish a military court system to prosecute terror suspects, a response to the Supreme Court ruling last June that Congress's blessing was necessary. While the bill would grant defendants more legal rights than they had under the administration's old system, it nevertheless would eliminate rights usually granted in civilian and military courts.

The measure also provides extensive definitions of war crimes such as torture, rape, and biological experiments — but gives Mr. Bush broad authority to decide which other techniques that American interrogators can legally use. The provisions are intended to protect CIA interrogators from being prosecuted for war crimes.

With elections just weeks away, the debate over the legal handling of suspected terrorists was often partisan with some contending the bill would approve torture.

"All Americans want to hold terrorists accountable, but if we try to redefine the nature of torture, whisk people into secret detention facilities, and use secret evidence to convict them in special courts, our actions do in fact embolden our enemies," Rep. Jim Moran, a Democrat of Virginia, said.