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http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=6757941 FCNL Action Alert: Challenge Gonzales Nomination as Attorney General! The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin hearings on Alberto Gonzales’ nomination on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005. Following Judiciary Committee approval, the nomination will be considered on the floor of the Senate. As White House Counsel, Alberto Gonzales was an architect of the administration’s policies on “enemy combatant” status, indefinite detention, and military tribunals. He was responsible for the administration’s policy about the use of torture by U.S. personnel, drafting at least one memo that narrowed the definition of torture so as to approve of U.S. forces conducting interrogations with techniques previously considered illegal. ACTION: Please call, e-mail, or fax your senators today. It is especially important to contact those senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee. However, because the Judiciary Committee refers the nomination to the entire Senate, contact with your senators is important even if they are not on the Judiciary Committee. To see a list of Senate Judiciary Committee members, follow this link: http://snipurl.com/bqce and select that committee from the pull-down menu. Urge them to fulfill their constitutional duty by participating in thorough, comprehensive confirmation hearings and full Senate consideration of this nomination. Although it is unlikely that Alberto Gonzales’ confirmation can be prevented, it is of utmost importance to have a thorough Senate airing of these issues, alerting the press and public to Alberto Gonzales’ professional philosophy, past actions, and commitments (or avoidance of commitments) that will guide his tenure as Attorney General. BACKGROUND: After the November 2004 election, Attorney General John Ashcroft resigned, and President Bush nominated White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales to be attorney general. As counsel to the President during the post-Sept. 11, 2001, period, Alberto Gonzales participated in drafting legal memos to narrow the definition of “torture,” attempting to legally justify the brutal treatment of people detained under U.S. control. He was the architect of the President’s use of the designation “enemy combatant” and approved of the President’s application of that designation, even for U.S. citizens arrested in the United States, without court or congressional oversight. His office authored the opinion that the Geneva Conventions are not applicable to al Qaeda combatants, and that military tribunals without due process protections are adequate for adjudication of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Prison facility. As White House Counsel, Alberto Gonzales had the role of advising and assisting the President about policies intended to enhance the President’s policy determinations and Executive branch power. And, as counsel to the governor, Alberto Gonzales served then-Gov. Bush in the same relationship. If confirmed as attorney general, Alberto Gonzales would have to pay a completely different role – that of the chief law enforcement officer in the U.S. As such, would he remain a quasi-counsel to the President, a loyal cabinet officer and legal apologist, or would he make the transition to a very different, independent role? Would he honor the rule of law, rather than the rule of men, in the chief law enforcement role? Would he honor U.S. treaty commitments concerning torture and other human rights transgressions? Would he submit to congressional oversight and respect the opinions of the courts? Senators have a constitutional duty to carefully review the individual that the President nominates to be attorney general. They should participate in thorough, comprehensive confirmation hearings and full Senate consideration of this nomination. They should ask Alberto Gonzales about the memos he helped draft, in which he argued that the definition of torture should be changed so that brutal interrogation techniques would be considered acceptable. They should ask him about his participation in the drafting and execution of the Executive Order claiming that the President has the right to designate, without due process or oversight, individuals as “enemy combatants” – even U.S. citizens. They should ask him about his approval of the policy and procedures involved in the “military tribunal” proceedings being conducted at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. They should ask him what differences he perceives between the role of counsel to the President and that of U.S. Attorney General, and whether he can commit to fulfilling his responsibilities as the head of U.S. law enforcement. And, they should ask him how he would handle the conflict of interest inherent in investigations and prosecutions of his White House colleagues? For “talking points” about the President’s choice of Alberto Gonzales to serve as Attorney General of the United States, go here: http://snipurl.com/bqcg _____________________________ Note: This message comes from the peace-justice-news e-mail mailing list of articles and commentaries about peace and social justice issues, activism, etc. If you do not regularly receive mailings from this list or have received this message as a forward from someone else and would like to be added to the list, send a blank e-mail with the subject "subscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or you can visit: http://lists.enabled.com/mailman/listinfo/peace-justice-news Go to that same web address to view the list's archives or to unsubscribe. E-mail accounts that become full, inactive or out of order for more than a few days will be deleted from this list. FAIR USE NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. 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