WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Some lawmakers Wednesday bristled at President George W. Bush's announcement that terrorist suspects might face military tribunals, building momentum in Congress to investigate a possible erosion of civil liberties during the administration's war on terrorism.
"I'm concerned about the potential breadth of the plan to use military trials for suspected terrorists," Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee said in a statement released Wednesday evening.
Kennedy noted a wartime precedent for such tribunals, "But we need to proceed very carefully before using such procedures for trials in this country. Fundamental constitutional rights are at the heart of our democracy and our liberty, and they deserve to be respected and protected."
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, D-Mich., said the tribunals -- along with other recent government moves in the war on terrorism -- raise "serious questions" about civil liberties that require congressional oversight.
"Indeed, the very purpose of the directive appears to be to skirt the usual constitutional and criminal justice rules that are the hallmark of our democratic form of government," Conyers wrote in a letter Wednesday to Committee Chairman Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.
Conyers calls for hearings that would include an investigation of a new administration plan to monitor communication between some defendants and their attorneys. Conyers said Congress should also look into the mysterious status of 1,000 suspects detained in the government's probe of the Sept. 11 attacks, some of which have reportedly been released.
On Tuesday, Bush signed an order that would allow the government to try foreigners accused of terrorism in special military tribunals set up by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that would not be subject to judicial review.
Conyers' request comes one day after United Press International reported that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., might soon hold hearings on the new government policy on monitoring communication between defense attorneys and their clients, and the status of the detainees.
Leahy twice sent letters to Ashcroft on Oct. 31 and Nov. 9, containing pointed questions about the government detainees and the policy to monitor lawyer-client relations, but has received no response.
Sensenbrenner did not return calls seeking comment and has not scheduled any hearings, but congressional sources said he has asked for a private briefing on the detainees, but has not received one.
Democrats said on condition of anonymity that lawmakers are increasingly uncomfortable with the possible erosion of civil liberties stemming from the government's activities, but have also kept their powder dry out of concern over impeding that war -- or facing untoward political consequences for questioning the government's motives during such a sensitive period. That could be changing.
"World public opinion can go south on this [war] really fast. I'm not sure how long it might take for American public opinion to go the same way," one staffer following the investigation said.
"We also have received no cooperation from the Justice Department in our effort to obtain information regarding the 1,000 plus immigrants who have been detained in connection with the terrorism investigation, as reflected in a letter that several Democratic Members transmitted to the Attorney General on October 31, 2001," Conyers wrote to Sensenbrenner Wednesday. "We would be remiss in our duties, however, if we did not also oversee the extent to which the Department may be abusing its authority and wrongfully targeting innocent Americans."
