The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 () would have authorized funding levels for the 13 government intelligence agencies and increased oversight for the

U.S. intelligence community The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The bill would have also applied the standards in the U.S. Army Field Manual to the entire government, effectively barring the CIA and other agencies from using tactics like

waterboarding Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water torture, water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method ...

in their interrogations. The bill was sponsored by Rep.

Silvestre Reyes Silvestre "Silver" Reyes (born November 10, 1944) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for , serving from 1997 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligen ...

(D, TX-16). The bill was vetoed by President

Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

and did not receive enough votes for an override. Two days after

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

became president he issued an

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of th ...

ordering the CIA to apply the standards of the U.S. Army Field Manual.

Bill history

Initial debate and passage

Introduced on May 1, 2007, the House passed a version of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 200
(H.R. 2082)
less than two weeks later, by a vote of 225–197. The Senate soon followed suit after a modest amount of internal debate, approving a similar version of the intelligence bill in a voice vote on October 3, 2007.

Anti-torture provisions inserted during conference committee

When the bill came out of conference committee on Dec. 6, 2007, it had a provision barring the CIA and the rest of the federal government from many interrogation tactics criticized as "torture" and "abusive" by civil liberties groups, including

. The provision was inserted by Sen.

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...

(D-Calif.). The inserted provision would limit the CIA to the 19 interrogation tactics in the U.S. Army Field manual, effectively banning waterboarding, exposure to extreme temperatures and other techniques used on

War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international Counterterrorism, counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campa ...

detainees after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. It bans a total of eight interrogation techniques: mock executions, beatings, electrical shocks, forced nakedness, sexual acts, causing hypothermia and heat injuries.Dan Eggen
"Senate Passes Ban On Waterboarding, Other Techniques,"
''The Washington Post,''February 14, 2008. Congress had banned such attacks from being used by the military through the

Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (DTA) is an Act of the United States Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on 30 December 2005. Offered as an amendment to a supplemental defense spending bill, it contains provisions re ...

. Sen.

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

(R-Ariz.) had sponsored the Act, but opposed the conference committee ban because, he said, it applied military standards to intelligence agencies. McCain also said that waterboarding was forbidden under current law but asked the Bush administration to clarify the matter by declaring it illegal. The House approved the bill, by a vote of 222–199. Before the Senate voted In February, there were two weeks of debate over the CIA's use of waterboarding on three al-Qaeda prisoners in 2002 and 2003. The

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

was also expected to tell the House that "there has been no determination by the Justice Department" was legal or illegal. The Bush administration had also just announced that it planned to put six War on Terror detainees from Guantanamo Bay - five of which had been subjected to the CIA tactics - on trial for involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Senate approved the conference report by a 51–45 vote on Feb. 13, 2008.

Veto by President Bush and failed House override

As he promised, President Bush vetoed the legislation on March 8. His veto applied to the authorization for the entire intelligence budget for the 2008 fiscal year, but he cited the waterboarding ban as the reason for the veto.Dan Eggen
"Bush Announces Veto of Waterboarding Ban,"
''Washington Post'', Mar. 8, 2008. On March 11, Speaker

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

(D-Calif.) attempted but failed to lead the House in a vote overriding the veto, 224–188.

References

External links

* Tim Starks
"CIA Interrogation Tapes Issue Plays Out Against Authorization Bill Vote,"
''CQ Politics'', Dec. 11, 2007. * Mark D. Agrast
"Ending Torture: CIA Tapes Spur House Action,"

Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization which presents a liberal viewpoint on economic and social issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The president and chief executive officer ...

, Dec. 13, 2007. * Patrick Yoest
"Intelligence Bill Including Interrogation Restrictions Faces Bush Veto,"
''CQ Politics'', Feb. 13, 2008.

(press release),

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

, Feb. 13, 2008. * Tim Starks
"Bush to Veto Intelligence Authorization; Unsuccessful Override Predicted"
''Congressional Quarterly'', Feb. 29, 2008. * Dan Eggen

''Washington Post'', Mar. 8, 2008.
Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2008
at

SourceWatch The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes ExposedbyCMD.org, SourceWatch.org, and ALECexposed.org. History CMD was founded in 1993 by progr ...

{{John McCain National security institutions United States federal defense and national security legislation Proposed legislation of the 110th United States Congress