I want to thank the Chairman for holding this hearing. It is long past time that we, as a nation, consider the damage that the Bush Administration’s policies have done not only to our standing in the world but to our ability to fight al Qaeda and its affiliates. I have opposed the CIA detention and interrogation program, authorized by this President, on moral, legal and national security grounds. I strongly support efforts to pursue, detain and interrogate suspected members of al Qaeda. But in interrogating these detainees we should follow the letter and the spirit of the United States Army Field Manual.

It is also my firm belief, which is widely shared in this country, including in the military, that the refusal to abide by this simple principle endangers our personnel overseas. Whatever value the Administration believes this program may have, the cost to our larger strategic effort to mobilize governments and populations in the fight against Al Qaeda has been immense, and that has made us less safe.