Cornyn Statement on Rumsfeld Testimony on Iraq Prison Abuse

CORNYN STATEMENT ON RUMSFELD TESTIMONY ON IRAQ PRISON ABUSE

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, made the following statement Friday following Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's testimony to the committee on the investigation into abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq:

"The American people expect high standards of conduct in all branches of our government, including the military. We have the training, the oversight, the leadership, and the accountability, but also the due process and desire to seek justice when it comes to holding people accountable for their actions. What Secretary Rumsfeld described in the hearing, in terms of the chronology of the investigation, gives me confidence that the Department of Defense has taken this matter seriously.

"Secretary Rumsfeld said-and I think he was right-that once he knew the photos would go public, he should have notified the Congress. But I fully understand his reluctance to release the photos or other details of the investigation earlier, before it was complete. Rather than respecting the rights of both the accused and the victims by releasing only a completed report, some would have preferred a premature airing of these details before the full story was known.

"It is important to make clear, as the Secretary did, that this investigation began and a press release was issued in January, and charges were filed publicly soon after. I'm reassured that the Secretary and other senior Defense officials were thoroughly and promptly investigating these abhorrent abuses." Cornyn met with Secretary Rumsfeld at the Pentagon Thursday morning with other members of the Armed Services committee.