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-- A. Serwer
Senator Pat Leahy is currently holding a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on a proposed "Truth Commission" that would investigate Bush era abuses of executive power. The ACLU is emphasizing that the proposed commission should make relevant policy changes based on what it discovers, much like the Church Committee in the 1970s which led to the creation of the permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Caroline Fredrickson, the Director of the ACLU's legislative office in Washington DC, put out a statement saying:
For eight years, our system of checks and balances has been woefully unbalanced in favor of the executive branch. The Truth Commission is a beginning for Congress to reassert its power, but it must go further. A Select Committee would pave the way for the reform our government so desperately needs.It's important that the Truth Committee, if it goes forward, be more than a partisan score settling exercise, but actually lead to more careful oversight of the executive branch. The Obama administration has shown a tentative willingness to hold onto some habits of the Bush administration, such as using the state secrets doctrine to avoid judicial scrutiny of intelligence practices. It's important that when it comes to civil liberties, that Congress fulfill it's role as a check on the power of the executive branch, no matter who happens to be in office.
-- A. Serwer
