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Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) on Senate floor explaining it was Obama who requested the provision for indefinite military detention of American citizens without charge or trial. Levin is a primary co-sponsor of the bill along with Sen. John McCain, and Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator Diane Feinstein recently confirmed that she was unable to excise Section 1031 in an email:
Senator Feinstein Confirms President and Military Can Detain US Citizens Without a Trial
Like you, I oppose these provisions. Section 1031 is problematic because it authorizes the indefinite detention of American citizens without due process. In this democracy, due process is a fundamental right, and it protects us from being locked up by the government without charge. For this reason, I offered an amendment to prohibit the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without trial or charge. Unfortunately, on December 1, 2011, this amendment failed by a vote of 45-55.
I was, however, able to reach a compromise with the authors of the defense bill to state that no existing law or authorities to detain suspected terrorists are changed by this section of the bill. While I would have preferred to have restricted the government's ability to detain U.S. citizens without charge, this compromise at least ensures that the bill does not expand the government's authority in this area.
Senator Levin:
Anonymous' Message to the American People
Transcript: Dear brothers and sisters. Now is the time to open your eyes!
In a stunning move that has civil libertarians stuttering with disbelief, the U.S. Senate has just passed a bill that effectively ends the Bill of Rights in America.
The National Defense Authorization Act is being called the most
traitorous act ever witnessed in the Senate, and the language of the
bill is cleverly designed to make you think it doesn't apply to
Americans, but toward the end of the bill, it essentially says it can
apply to Americans "if we want it to..." FULL TRANSCRIPT AT YOUTUBE
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell
