Limiting the Authority of the President to Interpret the Geneva Conventions and Mandating Congressional and Judicial Oversight
...the scariest parts of the MCA is the power it gives Bush in deciding for himself what the Geneva Conventions mean.According to the MCA:
As provided by the Constitution and by this section, the President has the authority for the United States to interpret the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions and to promulgate higher standards and administrative regulations for violations of treaty obligations which are not grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. Dodd's bill simply strikes the italicized part above about Bush interpreting the Geneva Conventions and replaces it with this:… the President has the authority, subject to congressional oversight and judicial review, to promulgate higher standards and administrative regulations for violations of treaty obligations which are not grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. ..................
..
Dodd, whose father was a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, ended his floor speech on his legislation by reinforcing the importance of a nation maintaining its long-held ideals, regardless of temporary dangers."America has always stood for something more. Our leaders at Nuremberg, including the young prosecutor Thomas Dodd, my father, rejected the certainty of execution for the uncertainty of a trial," said Dodd. "In doing so, we reaffirmed the ideal that this nation should never tailor its eternal principles to the conflict of the moment, because if we did, we would be walking in the footsteps of the enemies we despised."very good breakdown and explanation of this new and important legislation at:
http://www.democrats.com/node/11132