Ron Paul introduces bill to repeal NDAA indefinite detention clause

Ron Paul introduces bill to repeal NDAA indefinite detention clause

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Republican Representative and presidential candidate Ron Paul took a day off from campaigning in the primary voting state of South Carolina to return to Washington and introduce legislation that would repeal portions of a controversial new law that allows indefinite military detention of individuals.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), in addition to delegating funding for US presence in the Middle East, would also give the military broad powers to detain individuals on US soil who are suspected of being connected to terrorists. Additionally, detainees would not be guaranteed a trial, and could be held indefinitely.

The law easily passed both the House and Senate in December, and was signed into law by President Obama on New Year's Eve, who said he approved it despite having "serious reservations".

Sources and legal analysts differ over whether these provisions could apply to US citizens, but general consensus is that the relevant parts of NDAA are phrased vaguely.

From Washington, Paul blasted the provisions. "Section 1021 provides for the possibility of the US military acting as a kind of police force on US soil, apprehending terror suspects—including Americans—and whisking them off to an undisclosed location indefinitely," said the twelve-term Texas congressman.

"No right to attorney, no right to trial, no day in court [...] This is precisely the kind of egregious distortion of justice that Americans have always ridiculed in so many dictatorships overseas. Is this really the kind of United States we want to create in the name of fighting terrorism?"

He added: "Some have argued that nothing in Section 1021 explicitly mandates holding Americans without trial, but it employs vague language radically expanding the detention authority to include anyone who has 'substantially supported' certain terrorist groups or 'associated forces'. No one has defined what those two terms mean. What is an 'associated force'?"

Paul's son Rand, who is serving as a Senator from Kentucky, similarly objected to the legislation.

Other lawmakers on Capitol Hill, however, differed. Lindsay Graham from South Carolina said in December that the broad measures were necessary for national security. "It is not unfair to make an American citizen account for the fact that they decided to help Al Qaeda to kill us all and hold them as long as it takes to find intelligence about what may be coming next. And when they say, 'I want my lawyer,' you tell them, 'Shut up. You don’t get a lawyer.'"

Paul's bill is numbered H.R. 3785; he was its only sponsor. A related amendment to NDAA, proposed back in mid-December by Rep. Jeffrey Landry to soften the detention provisions, was struck down.

Following NDAA: Previous stories in our series

• Obama signs controversial NDAA bill into law — January 1, 2012
• After weekend of secret meetings, Congress drafts final version of ... — December 14, 2011
• Proposed law would allow US military to indefinitely det