WASHINGTON (AP)
President-elect Barack Obama's pick to oversee Homeland Security told senators she will improve the department's operations and relationships with other agencies, while his choice for the Attorney General’s office forcefully broke from the Bush administration's counterterrorism policies.
In testimony prepared for delivery at her confirmation hearing, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano cites challenges the department faces in fending off terrorist attacks and preparing for emergencies and natural disasters.
Among them, she says, are having to operate out of 70 buildings at 40 different locations in the Washington region and low morale in a work force that is 40 percent contract employees.
The Homeland Security Department was formed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks from 22 federal agencies.
Declaring that water-boarding is torture and pledging to prosecute some Guantanamo Bay detainees in U.S. courts, Holder signaled that President Obama will chart a new course in combating terrorism. As recently as last week, Vice President Dick Cheney defended water-boarding, a harsh interrogation tactic that simulates drowning, saying it provided valuable intelligence.
The CIA has used the tactic on at least three terrorism suspects, included alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. In past hearings, Attorney General Michael Mukasey and his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales, frustrated senators by repeatedly sidestepping questions about water-boarding.
It was the first topic discussed at Holder's confirmation hearing, and he made an unambiguous statement about its nature: "Water-boarding is torture."
The declaration sent a wave of approval through the public viewing gallery, where protesters, dressed in orange prison scrubs like those worn by detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison, held signs calling for an end to torture.
As a practical matter, Holder said torture does not lead to reliable intelligence. And on principle, he said the United States needs to live up to its own high standards, even in the face of fear and terrorism.
