For Immediate Release: May 26, 2011

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(Washington, DC) Earlier today, the House of Representatives voted to expand the current authorization for the use of military force and thereby give the Executive branch additional powers to detain individuals indefinitely without trial. A bi-partisan amendment to the FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act to remove this expansion was voted down on a 234 to 187 vote. Rev. Richard Killmer, the Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture released this statement responding to the vote:

“The House of Representatives made a major mistake today when it voted to expand the authorization for the use of military force and to give the President additional authority to detain people indefinitely. Indefinite detention without trial is un-American and immoral. The President did not seek this additional authority – in fact he threatened to veto the National Defense Authorization Act if it contained it. Yet, the House voted down a bi-partisan effort to remove this provision from the bill. Congress acted out of fear and sacrificed our fundamental values.”

Prior to the vote, a coalition of religious leaders sent a letter to all members of the House expressing their opposition to giving the President additional powers to detain people indefinitely. The leaders, who come from a variety of faith traditions including Protestant, Jewish, Catholic, and Sikh, wrote:

“We must not continue to repeat the immoral mistakes of the past, but instead begin anew by rejecting any effort to authorize an increase in the use of indefinite detention without trial. The moral teachings of our faith traditions exist for precisely this purpose – to guide us through difficult questions when times are hard, helping us to remember to always pursue justice.”

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