Guantánamo legislation unlikely until the fall

WASHINGTON — The Senate is unlikely to take up legislation addressing the legal rights of suspected terrorists until after Congress' August recess, Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday.

Frist's plan not to act until this fall pushes the Guantánamo issue squarely into election season, when Republicans will be seeking support from voters by focusing on national-security issues.

Republicans are discussing their legislative options among themselves and with Democrats and the Bush administration, said Frist, R-Tenn.

"We will act legislatively," he said.

The Supreme Court on June 29 ruled 5-3 that President Bush's plan to try Guantánamo detainees in military tribunals violated U.S. and international law. About 450 detainees are being held at the Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba.

The decision put the ball in Congress' court to pass legislation dictating how suspected terrorists should be prosecuted.

Lawmakers and congressional aides say there are a range of options that could be pursued, including passing legislation specifically authorizing Bush's proposed military tribunals or setting up a system similar to military courts-martial.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, plans to hold the first of several hearings this week on the issue. The committee, followed by the House and Senate Armed Services committees, plans to hear from active and retired military officials and legal experts.

"We need to have a body of law directed at this new battlefield" against terrorists, said Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and an advocate of the administration's treatment of detainees.

Hunter, Frist and other lawmakers have said they remain undecided on how the legislation should look, and several congressional aides said members are waiting to hear from the administration before moving forward. The exception is Specter, who has introduced legislation that would authorize a tribunal system but impose requirements on the Defense Department to ensure each prisoner is afforded sufficient "due process."

Intended to protect classified information, the military tribunals would grant fewer rights to suspected terrorists. Unlike the military courts-martial system and civilian courts, defendants would have limited rights to appeal.

The Bush administration has asserted that its tribunal system is lawful.