Prepared testimony to the subcommittee on the constitution, committee on the judiciary, United States senate, september 16, 2008, restoring the rule of law

Chairman Feingold, Ranking Minority Member Brownback, members of the Subcommittee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify. The question this hearing poses is of critical importance: What steps should the next President and Congress take to repair the damage that this President has done to the rule of law in the pursuit of U.S. national security? I have testified and written elsewhere about the Bush Administration's deeply troubling record of detainee treatment since 2001, a record that has had devastating consequences both for our nation's efforts to protect and enforce some of our most important laws, and for our national security.[1] In this testimony, I shall first explain why I believe not only adherence to, but reliance on, the rule of law is so essential to the success of U.S. counterterrorism policy. I then offer a list of specific steps I believe the U.S. Government should take to begin to correct key failures and ill- effects of U.S. intelligence and detention operations since the attacks of September 11.