Congress briefed on waterboarding in 2002

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- CIA officials were met with approval when they briefed members of the U.S. Congress in September 2002 on the tactic of waterboarding, it was reported Sunday.

CIA officers briefed a bipartisan congressional group on the agency's harsh interrogation tactics and overseas detention facilities, including the use of waterboarding – a simulated drowning tactic that some consider torture.

Anonymous U.S. officials told The Washington Post only one congressional member raised objections, and in at least two cases lawmakers asked the CIA to get tougher with their interrogation tactics, the Post reported Sunday.

"The briefer was specifically asked if the methods were tough enough," said one U.S. official.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Rep. Jane Harmon, D-Calif., Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., Sen., John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., and Sen. Pat Roberts, R. Kan., were all briefed by the CIA regarding the use of waterboarding.

Only Harmon voiced objection.

"Among those being briefed, there was a pretty full understanding of what the CIA was doing," said Goss. "And the reaction in the room was not just approval, but encouragement."