On Wednesday the House voted to ban use of federal money to transfer detainees to countries that are believed to torture prisoners, 420-2. It was part of the $81.4 emergency spending package for the war in Iraq, and reaffirms the 1994 treaty barring torture of detainees in American custody.
CNEWS reports that the authors of the amendment, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, basically scoffed at the Preznit's reassurances that when prisoners are sent to countries like Egypt or Syria they will not be tortured.
"Today, we moved one step closer to ending the U.S. practice of outsourcing torture. The passage of this amendment reaffirms our commitment to upholding the Convention Against Torture," Markey said.
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Blumenauer, who is a member of the House International Relations Committee, has called for Congress to investigate Bayard Foreign Marketing LLC of Portland, Oregon, the registered owner of the Gulfstream V that has reportedly been seen around the world transporting hooded and handcuffed prisoners. FAA records show that prior to that, from 1999 to 2204, the jet was owned by Premier Executive Transport Services in Dedham, Massachusetts.
And now for the $64,000 question -- who were the two who voted FOR the use of federal funds to pay for extraordinary rendition? Well that would be Republicans Robin Hayes of North Carolina and Mark Souder of Indiana.
It's a pretty scary world.
(A version of this is cross-posted on my blog at firedoglake.blogspot.com as part of a story on Tom Hayden and why he believes "taxes for torture" is probably the most important political issue facing Democrats today. His comments are always worth reading.)