Resolution condemning the Detainee Provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012

WHEREAS, on December 16, 2011, the United States Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, (NDAA), including provisions on detention of terrorism suspects ("the detainee provisions"). The United States House of Representatives passed the NDAA on December 14th, 2011. The NDAA was signed into law by President Obama on December 31, 2011. WHEREAS, the NDAA authorizes indefinite detention, without charge or trial, by the US military of persons suspected of terrorist activities, including American citizens. WHEREAS, the NDAA also mandates military jurisdiction over many alleged terrorist suspects. WHEREAS, the NDAA would codify indefinite detention without trial into US law for the first time since the McCarthy era when Congress overrode the veto of President Harry Truman and passed the Internal Security Act in 1950. WHEREAS, the above detainee provisions of the NDAA negate many protections found in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights enacted to protect criminal suspects, namely: the right of habeas corpus judicial review as guaranteed by Article 1 of the Constitution; the right to due process of law when deprived of liberty as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment; and the right to a speedy, public trial by a jury of peers, including assistance of counsel, as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. WHEREAS, the NDAA also severely restricts transfer of suspected terrorists from the military base in Guantanamo, in spite of the inhumane and sub-standard treatment of suspects that has been welldocumented to have occurred there.

WHEREAS, both Colorado Democratic Senators, Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, voted for passage of the NDAA, while thirteen other US Senators voted against passage. Senator Udall voted for passage of the bill in spite of voicing grave reservations about the threat to civil liberties that the detainee provisions entailed, and in spite of reminding his Senatorial colleagues that they all took an oath to uphold the Constitution. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Boulder County Democratic Party (BCDP) condemns the detainee provisions of the NDAA, including the votes for passage of the NDAA with these provisions by both Colorado Senators, and also including the signing of the act into law by President Obama. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the BCDP will send a copy of this resolution to Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, notifying them of our condemnation of their votes for the NDAA which included the detainee provisions, urging them to appear before our members to provide a rationale for their votes, and informing them that the BCDP will be supporting non-violent, legal protest of their votes. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the BCDP will send a copy of this resolution to President Obama, notifying him of our condemnation of his signing into law the NDAA including the detainee provisions. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the BCDP will send a copy of this resolution to the Boulder Daily Camera, the Boulder Weekly, radio station KGNU, the Boulder City Council and the Boulder County Commissioners, to inform the media, our local elected officials, and the public of our disapproval of the detainee provisions of the NDAA and our condemnation of the actions of our two Colorado Senators and our President in supporting the law with these provisions. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the BCDP will send a copy of this resolution to the Colorado Democratic Party and to the separate county affiliates, notifying them of our condemnation of the detainee provisions of the NDAA. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the BCDP will support its members in taking part in non-violent legal protests about the passage of the NDAA with the detainee provisions. Approved the 8TH Day of February, 2012 Executive Committee, Boulder County Democratic Party