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Contractor Bill Passes the House
Rep. David Price's (D-NC) bill putting private-security companies' activities overseas under U.S. civilian law has passed the House:
The House passed a bill on Wednesday that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to prosecution by U.S. courts. It was the first major legislation of its kind to pass since a deadly shootout last month involving Blackwater employees.Democrats called the 389-30 vote an indictment in connection with a shooting incident there that left 11 Iraqis dead. Senate Democratic leaders said they planned to follow suit with similar legislation and send a bill to President Bush as soon as possible.
"There is simply no excuse for the de facto legal immunity for tens of thousands of individuals working in countries" on behalf of the United States, said Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas.
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Comments (10)
EdNSted wrote on October 4, 2007 12:53 PM:I'll bet a $20 donation to TPM that this never happens. These contractors (Blackwater et al.) are simply not going to work without immunity. And the State Dept. is not going to let a minor inconvenience like Democrats stop them.
breakspear wrote on October 4, 2007 12:55 PM:This is a good bill and is WAY beyond veto-proof, in case Bush thought of vetoing it. (Just in case, as he seems to want to veto everything else the Dems pass). Although this is completely bipartisan and makes utter sense.
Anonymous wrote on October 4, 2007 1:27 PM:They don't need to worry about Democrats.
They need to worry about the FBI.
TheraP wrote on October 4, 2007 1:31 PM:What about a bill that prevents them from being used against us here at home?
I want that assurance!
KestrelBrighteyes wrote on October 4, 2007 1:38 PM:Bush says he'll veto the bill.
And if there are enough votes to override his veto, what are the odds he'll issue a secret signing statement?
LAWS? We don't need no steenking laws!!
urbino wrote on October 4, 2007 5:13 PM:And if there are enough votes to override his veto, what are the odds he'll issue a secret signing statement?
Extreeeeemly high. Especially given that he's already said it encroaches on executive authority.
He might not even bother to make it secret. That'd be nice, since it might make clear to the American people that what these signing statements amount to is a line-item veto with no possibility of override, which is unconstitutional in about eleven different ways.
sannaj wrote on October 4, 2007 5:28 PM:Ok, ok, so hypothetically the bill becomes law. What then? How would the law treat these contractors? They're not policemen, and I don't really see how you can treat them just like the security guard driving the Brinks truck. Iraq (and other war zones) is a far far different situation than, say, downtown Cleveland! I suppose part of that difference could be made up for by prosecutor's discretion on what cases to take up, but that's a really BAD way to write a law, don't you think?
anonymouse wrote on October 4, 2007 6:28 PM:Yes...
It would have bben nice to have laws affecting these situations in place a few wars ago.
Oh... If I'm not mistaken, laws WERE in place.
We just seem to forget to pay attention to the rules of law which are already on the books... guess we find a need to reinvent them over and over again rather than use the old ones to prosecute with.
this is a little like the laws they are attempting to put into place to stop war profiteering. Apparently, they are only good until the present war ends. when a new war breaks out... the laws are no longer binding...
Jane wrote on October 4, 2007 8:28 PM:Self-defense and necessity are defenses accepted in the common law for killing. Otherwise it is murder.
Won't stop them entirely but should slow them down -- no more joy riding down the highway shooting everybody in sight on the way to the airport.
Anonymous wrote on October 5, 2007 3:09 AM:Easy solution: lose their citizenship papers. No papers, no re-entry into the U.S., right? Say they unfortunately all went belly-up with the millions of missing e-mails. Ditto for pay records. So sorry! "Mistakes were made"!