Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Rep. Bill Delahunt Hold a Joint Hearing On the Maher Arar Deportation Investigation

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Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Rep. Bill Delahunt Hold a Joint Hearing On the Maher Arar Deportation Investigation

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND CIVIL LIBERTIES AND HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND OVERSIGHT HOLD A JOINT HEARING ON THE MAHER ARAR DEPORTATION INVESTIGATION

JUNE 5, 2008

SPEAKERS: SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND CIVIL LIBERTIES REP. JERROLD NADLER, D-N.Y. CHAIRMAN REP. ARTUR DAVIS, D-ALA. REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, D-FLA. REP. KEITH ELLISON, D-MINN. REP. JOHN CONYERS JR., D-MICH. REP. ROBERT C. SCOTT, D-VA. REP. MELVIN WATT, D-N.C. REP. STEVE COHEN, D-TENN.

REP. TRENT FRANKS, R-ARIZ. RANKING MEMBER REP. MIKE PENCE, R-IND. REP. DARRELL ISSA, R-CALIF. REP. STEVE KING, R-IOWA REP. JIM JORDAN, R-OHIO REP. LAMAR SMITH, R-TEXAS EX OFFICIO

SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND OVERSIGHT REP. BILL DELAHUNT, D-MASS. CHAIRMAN, REP. RUSS CARNAHAN, D-MO. REP. DONALD M. PAYNE, D-N.J. REP. GREGORY W. MEEKS, D-N.Y. REP. JOSEPH CROWLEY, D-N.Y. REP. HOWARD L. BERMAN, D-CALIF. EX OFFICIO

REP. DANA ROHRABACHER, R-CALIF. RANKING MEMBER REP. RON PAUL, R-TEXAS REP. JEFF FLAKE, R-ARIZ. REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, R-FLA. EX OFFICIO

WITNESSES: RICHARD SKINNER, INSPECTOR GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

CLARK KENT ERVIN, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

SCOTT HORTON, DISTINGUISHED VISITING PROFESSOR, HOFSTRA LAW SCHOOL

[*] NADLER: This joint hearing of the Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties and the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight will come to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the hearing. I will now recognize myself for a five-minute opening statement.

Today's hearing will continue the subcommittee's investigation into the matter of Maher Arar and this administration's policy of what has been described as rendition to torture. Today, four and a half years after Chairman Conyers's initial request, the inspector general's report on this matter is finally being released to the public in a redacted form. I especially want to commend the chairman, Mr. Conyers, for his work on this and for his efforts to bring out the truth on this terrible incident.

I am pleased to be joined by our colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. Delahunt, the chairman of the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, who will be co-chairing this hearing. The gentleman has done an extraordinary job of investigating this matter and I am pleased to continue our partnership investigations.

We will now proceed, and I amend what I said a moment ago about the five minutes, to members' opening statements. As has been the practice of the subcommittee, I will recognize the chairs and ranking members of the subcommittees and of the full committees to make opening statements. In the interests of proceeding to our witnesses and mindful of our busy schedules, I would ask that other members submit their statements for the record. Without objection, all members will have five legislative days to submit opening statements for inclusion in the record. The chair now recognizes himself for five minutes for an opening statement.

Today, four and a half years after Chairman Conyers's initial request for an investigation, we will begin to get the facts about the administration's transfer of a Canadian citizen, Maher Arar, to Syria, a country listed by our State Department as engaging in torture. Specifically, we will examine the report of the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general in the case.

Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen, was seized by our government as he was changing planes at Kennedy Airport while returning from vacation in Tunisia to his home in Canada. Our government detained and interrogated him for two weeks and then handed him over to the Syrians, who imprisoned him for one year and tortured him. We have been told by the administration that the United States takes seriously its obligations under the Convention Against Torture, and under the laws of the United States, not to hand people over to governments that will torture them. We have been specifically told by Attorneys General John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales, as well as by Secretary of State Condol...

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