First Hamdan and SWIFT Hearings on Congressional Committee Schedule This Week (Updated)
By Andrew Cochran
The first Congressional hearings on the impact of the Supreme Court's Hamdan decision and on the SWIFT disclosures will occur this week. On June 29, I posted my prediction that Congress will pass a new law to enable the Administration to hold the detainees as needed until a trial and/or secure transfers to other countries. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross posted commentaries on the case before the decision in April and in March. UPDATE: The Senate Majority Leader said today that the legislation won't be ready until at least September, which will heighten the political debate on the issue.
Contrary to some published schedules, Victor Comras will not testify at tomorrow's SWIFT hearing at the House Financial Services Committee. On June 23, Victor posted his scoop, "Reports of US Monitoring of SWIFT Transactions Are Not New: The Practice Has Been Known By Terrorism Financing Experts For Some Time" and followed up on July 3. See also Dennis Lormel's posts on the matter on July 8 and June 23 and Douglas Farah's posts on June 29. Here is the resolution that the U.S. House passed condemning the disclosures (Acrobat file).
UPDATE: Michael Cutler will testify on Wednesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on immigration reform. Here is his testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee on June 28 on the need to improve operational intelligence for border security (Acrobat file).
Other hearings will cover the situation in Iraq and measures to protect chemical facilities from terrorist attacks. Here is the schedule of open terrorism-related Congressional hearings for this week:
Senate Committees
July 11, 2006
Senate Judiciary Committee
Detainee/Enemy Combatant Legal Rights
Full committee hearing on "Hamdan v. Rumsfeld: Establishing a Constitutional Process." On June 29, the Supreme Court ruled that the Bush administration did not have the constitutional authority to set up "military commissions" to try detainees held at Guantanamo Bay.
Witnesses: Daniel Dell'Orto, principal deputy general counsel, Defense Department; Steve Bradbury, acting assistant attorney general, Office of Legal Counsel, Justice Department; former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olsen, partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Harold Koh, dean, Yale Law School, New Haven, Conn.; Paul Cobb, former deputy general counsel for the Defense Department; Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift of the Office of Military Commissions, Office of Chief Defense Counsel, Defense Department; former Air Force Judge Advocate General Scott Silliman of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, Duke University School of Law; former Associate Deputy Attorney General Daniel Collins, partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson, Los Angeles, Calif.
Location: 216 Dirksen Senate Office Building. 9:30 a.m. (July 11, 2006)
Contact: 202-224-5225
July 13, 2006
Senate Armed Services Committee
Detainee Trials/Military Commissions
Full committee hearing on the future of military commissions in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Hamdan v Rumsfeld.
Witnesses: Army Judge Advocate General Maj. Gen. Scott Black; Navy Judge Advocate General Rear Adm. James McPherson; Air Force Judge Advocate General Major Gen. Jack Rives; Marine Corps Judge Advocate General Brig. Gen. Kevin Sandkuhler; and former Army Judge Advocate General Thomas Romig
Location: TBA. 9:30 a.m. (July 13, 2006)
Contact: 202-224-3871
House Committees
July 11, 2006
House Financial Services Committee
Terror Finance Tracking Program
Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing on "The Terror Finance Tracking Program."
Witnesses: Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey
Location: 2128 Rayburn House Office Building. 10 a.m. (July 11, 2006)
Contact: 202-225-7502
House Government Reform Committee
Iraq National Victory Strategy
National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations Subcommittee hearing on "The Evolving National Strategy for Victory in Iraq."
Witnesses: Comptroller General David Walker of the Government Accountability Office (GAO); Joseph Christoff, director of international affairs, GAO; James Jeffrey, senior adviser on Iraq and principal deputy assistant secretary of State for the Middle East; Anthony Cordesman, chairman in strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Affairs (CSIS); Kenneth Pollack, director of Middle Eastern policy at the Brookings Institution; Leith Kubba, senior director for Middle East and North Africa at the National Endowment for Democracy; and Kenneth Katzman, specialist in Middle East Affairs at the Congressional Research Service
Location: 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. 2 p.m. (July 11, 2006)
Contact: 202-225-5074
House Homeland Security Committee
Chemical Facility Anti-terrorism
Economic Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Cybersecurity Subcommittee markup of H.R.5695, the "Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006."
Location: 311 Cannon House Office Building. 2 p.m. (July 11, 2006)
Contact: 202-226-9600
July 13, 2006
House International Relations Committee
Aircraft/Weapons Sales to Pakistan
Full committee hearing on the "Sale of F-16 Aircraft and Weapons Systems to Pakistan."
Witnesses: TBA
Location: 2172 Rayburn House Office Building. 10 a.m. (July 13, 2006)
Contact: 202-225-5021