U.S. Rep Jane Harman (D-Calif) says the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, on which she serves as the ranking member, should "explore legislation to address U.S. policy on interrogation and detainees."

"This bipartisan task is urgent if we are truly going to champion human dignity throughout the 
world," she said in a Jan. 21 news release.

"Numerous cases over the past year have underscored the lack of clear policy on detainees and 
interrogations," she said. "This week, in his written answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee, 
Attorney General-nominee Alberto R. Gonzales stated that intelligence officials acting abroad were not required to abide by Constitutional provisions banning cruel, unusual, and inhumane treatment. If his interpretation is correct, it is evidence of a major gap in U.S. law.

"The abuses at Abu Ghraib and and reported abuses at Guantanamo and elsewhere, along with 
Gonzales's confusing positions, all point to the urgent need for Congress to act," Harman said. 
She noted that Article I Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the responsibility to 
"make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water."

 —Donald H. Harrison