The title of this article is a little misleading, I admit. There are some Democrats who support the repeal of the Military Commissions Act. Out of the hundreds of Democrats in the House of Representatives, for example, 14 have supported legislation to support a repeal.

The Military Commissions Act is one of the worst laws to be passed under George W. Bush. It revoked the ancient protection of the writ of habeas corpus, enabling arbitrary imprisonment. The law ended the right to a fair and speedy trial, setting up a system of kangaroo courts that could operate under absurdly unjust standards. The law gave retroactive immunity to the President and his aides for war crimes. It created an unconstitutional exemption from the Geneva Conventions. It legalized torture.

Under President Barack Obama, the Military Commissions Act is still on the books.

Some people will say that we don’t have to worry about the Military Commissions Act, because Barack Obama is closing the prisons at Guantanamo Bay. So what’s the problem?

The problem is that although the prisons of Guantanamo Bay will be closed, the laws that enabled them to remain open and engaging in horrific acts against American values will remain in effect. As long as the Military Commissions Act remains on the books, Obama’s closure of prisons like those at Guantanamo will be purely voluntary. That means that President Obama, or another President in the future, will retain the power to re-open Guantanamo or similar prisons in the future.

The surest way to overcome this problem is not just to rely on the trustworthiness of the President of the United States, but to enact a law that specifically contradicts and counteracts the Military Commissions Act. U.S. Representative David Price has introduced legislation to do just that. It’s H.R. 591, the Interrogation and Detention Reform Act.

Still, only 14 Democrats in the House of Representatives have bothered to cosponsor this important bill. The rest have ignored it, pretending that it doesn’t exist. Why? Sadly, many Democrats currently in Congress capitulated to George W. Bush back in 2006 and voted in favor of the Military Commissions Act. It seems that many of these Democrats are too ashamed of their own moral weakness to work to undo their past mistakes.

Still, our thanks go out to the following 13 co-sponsors of the Interrogation and Detention Reform Act:

Earl Bluemenauer
Rosa DeLauro
Sam Farr
Bob Filner
Maurice Hinchey
Rush Holt
John Larson
James McGovern
Brad Miller
John Olver
Ed Pastor
Jan Schakowsky
Mel Watt

If the name of your US. Representative isn’t on this list, call the congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121, ask to be connected to the office of your Representative, and request support for H.R. 591.