Washington D.C. – After today’s vote on the Smith-Amash amendment to the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member, Congressman Adam Smith, made the following statement:

"While I am disappointed in the outcome of today's vote, I am proud of all those who have rallied behind this cause and helped to move the issue forward. This fight does not end with today's vote. We will continue to work to restore civil liberties and due process rights in this country.

"I want to specifically applaud Congressman Justin Amash for his hard work. Over the last few weeks, Rep. Amash has worked tirelessly to build support for our amendment and I look forward to working with him in the future.

"I am also disappointed that the Republican amendment, which was supposedly offered to address the same issue, does nothing to fix the problem. It was offered solely as a smoke screen to divert attention from our amendment. 

"To give the President the power to take away a person's freedom and lock them up, potentially simply based on allegations, without due process, and without the civil liberties protected by our Constitution, is an extraordinary step. Due process rights are designed to protect the innocent and I will continue to work to ensure that we rein in executive powers and protect the Constitution and all those to which it applies."

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