LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION stating our support against the use of torture as
an interrogation technique and urging the New York State Congressional
delegation to request that the President of the United States issue an
executive order to ensure humane prisoner treatment and ban torture and
cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment

WHEREAS, The people of the United States and the great State of New York
who come from a variety of backgrounds are united in certain founda-
tional beliefs such as affirming the inherent dignity of all persons;
the right of every person to be treated with respect; and the responsi-
bility of state institutions to do so; and
WHEREAS, The use of torture and cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment
against prisoners is immoral, un-American, unwise, ineffective and
prohibited by federal codes and international treaties; and
WHEREAS, In our effort to make our country secure, we have resorted to
harsh tactics which yield dangerously unreliable intelligence; and
WHEREAS, Condoning and using torture and such alternative interro-
gation techniques endangers the lives of many United States personnel
abroad as well as human rights advocates worldwide living under despotic
regimes; and
WHEREAS, Our new policies with respect to mistreatment of prisoners
undermines our international standing, integrity and cooperation from
our allies; and
WHEREAS, Our new policies ultimately compromise our security by
fostering the growth of international terrorism; and
WHEREAS, All United States soldiers, intelligence staff and private
military contractors deserve the security that they are implementing
policies that comply fully with law; and
WHEREAS, The United States is the leading torchbearer of individual
human rights in the emerging global community; and
WHEREAS, The President of the United States leads our Nation by our
core principles; and
WHEREAS, Prominent leaders from the faith community, former military,
state officials and interrogators have endorsed a Presidential Executive
Order on Prisoner Treatment, Torture and Cruelty (see addendum); and
WHEREAS, New York State, as ground zero, has a unique moral claim in
determining the rationale for policies that uphold our constitution and
our national security; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the NYS Legislature urges the President to issue a
Presidential Executive Order on Prisoner Treatment, Torture and Cruelty
incorporating our values, principles and laws; and be it further
RESOLVED, We support only the "golden rule" methods of interrogation,
forbidding methods that we would find unacceptable if used against Amer-
icans, be they civilians or soldiers; and be it further
RESOLVED, We support one national standard for all United States
personnel and agencies for the interrogation and treatment of prisoners;
and be it further
RESOLVED, We endorse the use of the United States Army Field Manual as
the minimum national standard for the interrogation and treatment of
prisoners until any other interrogation technique has been approved; and
be it further
RESOLVED, We urge the closure of secret prisons and an end to the
disappearance of secret prisoners; and be it further
RESOLVED, We seek a prohibition on the practice of transferring any
person to countries that use torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading
treatment; and be it further

RESOLVED, We endorse the acknowledgment of all prisoners to our courts
or the International Red Cross; and be it further
RESOLVED, We endorse the establishment of an independent commission to
conduct an impartial comprehensive investigation of allegations of
torture and mistreatment of detainees held by or at the behest of United
States authorities in the "War on Terror"; and be it further
RESOLVED, We urge Congress and the President to establish that all
United States officials who authorize, implement, or fail in their duty
to prevent the use of torture and ill-treatment be held accountable; and
be it further
RESOLVED, We endorse American principles of justice and fairness, our
courts, and habeas corpus rights as sufficient to address prisoners
accused of national or international crimes; and be it further
RESOLVED, We support providing Congress and the courts with access to
the information they need to be fully informed about our detention and
interrogation policies; and be it further
RESOLVED, We support our United States Congress and the courts in
providing oversight of U.S. detention and interrogation policies; and be
it further
RESOLVED, We support the right of current and former detainees and
their families, whose human rights have been violated, to seek indemni-
fication; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the New York State Congressional delegation be and
hereby is respectfully memorialized by this Legislative Body to request
that the President of the United States issue an executive order on
prisoner treatment, torture and cruelty; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to each member of the Congressional delegation from the State of
New York.

Addendum
RESOLVED, Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Dean, Ziegler School of Rabbin-
ic Studies; Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Diocesan Legate, Armenian Church
of America; The Rt. Rev. Mark M. Beckwith, Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of
Newark; Archbishop Nicolae Condrea, Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in
America and Canada; Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, Greek Orthodox Metrop-
olis of Chicago; Bishop Sally Dyck, Minnesota Area, The United Methodist
Church; Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz, President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical
College; Chancellor Arnold Eisen, Jewish Theological Seminary of Ameri-
ca; Rabbi David Ellenson, President, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Insti-
tute of Religion; Rev. Dr. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secre-
tary, Reformed Church in America; Rabbi Arthur Green, Rector, Hebrew
College Rabbinical School; Rabbi Steve Gutow, Executive Director, Jewish
Council of Public Affairs; Bishop Al Gwinn, North Carolina Conference,
The United Methodist Church; Rev. Dr. Stan Hastey, Executive Director,
Alliance of Baptists; Dr. Maher Hathout, Senior Advisor, Muslim Public
Affairs Council; Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary, National
Council of Churches; Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the
General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Rev. Michael Livingston,
Executive Director, International Council of Community Churches; Dr.
Ingrid Mattson, President, Islamic Society of North America; Cardinal
Theodore E. McCarrick, Former Archbishop of Washington, D.C.; Mary Ellen
McNish, General Secretary, American Friends Service Committee; Rev. A.
Roy Medley, General Secretary, American Baptist Churches USA; Stanley
Noffsinger, General Secretary, Church of the Brethren; Rev. Glenn R.
Palmberg, President, Evangelical Covenant Church; Very Rev. Thomas
Picton, CSsR, President, Conference of Major Superiors of Men; Dr.
Anahat Kaur Sandhu, Secretary General, World Sikh Council - American

Region; Rabbi Gerald Serotta, Chair, Rabbis for Human Rights - North
America; Jim Schrag, Executive Director, Mennonite Church USA; Rev. Dr.
William Shaw, President, National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.; Rev.
William G. Sinkford, President, Unitarian Universalist Association of
Congregations; Rabbi Toba Spitzer, President, Reconstructionist Rabbini-
cal Assembly; Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, National Director, Interfaith and
Community Alliance, Islamic Society of North America; Rev. Dr. John H.
Thomas, President, United Church of Christ; Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins,
General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ);
Bishop Thomas G. Wenski, Chairman, Committee on International Justice
and Peace, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Bishop Tim W.
Whitaker, Florida Area Resident Bishop, The United Methodist Church;
Rabbi Eric Yoffe, President, Union for Reform Judaism;
EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS OF STATE ECUMENICAL AGENCIES
Scott D. Anderson, Executive Director, Wisconsin Council of Churches;
Rev. Jonathan Barton, General Minister, Virginia Council of Churches;
Rev. Jan Olav Flaaten, Executive Director, Arizona Ecumenical Council;
Rev. Gary L. Harke, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Council of Church-
es; Rev. Jack Johnson, Executive Director, Massachusetts Council of
Churches; Rev. Dr. Nancy J. Kemper, Executive Director, Kentucky Council
of Churches; Rev. Brenda Lynn Kneece, Executive Minister, SC Christian
Action Council; David Lamarre-Vincent, Executive Director, New Hampshire
Council of Churches; David Leslie, Executive Director, Ecumenical Minis-
tries of Oregon; Marilyn P. Mecham, Executive, Interchurch Ministries of
Nebraska; Rev. Russell L. Meyer, Executive Director, Florida Council of
Churches; Rev. Warren Murphy, Executive Director, Wyoming Association of
Churches; Rev. George Reed, Executive Director, North Carolina Council
of Churches; Rev. Jill Job Saxby, Executive Director, Maine Council of
Churches; Wade Schemmel, President, North Dakota Conference of Churches;
Rev. Dr. Rick Schlosser, Executive Director, California Council of
Churches; Rev. Dr. Stephen J. Sidorak, Jr., Executive Director, Chris-
tian Conference of Connecticut; The Reverend Dennis D. Sparks, Executive
Director, West Virginia Council of Churches
EVANGELICAL LEADERS
The Rev. Dr. Paul Alexander, Professor of Theology and Ethics; Director,
D.Min. Program, Haggard Graduate School of Theology at Azusa Pacific
University; Dr. Robert Andringa, President Emeritus, Council for Chris-
tian Colleges & Universities; Ms. Joan Baumgartner Brown, Chief Develop-
ment Officer, Sojourners; Dr. David Black, President, Eastern Universi-
ty; Dr. Wilton Bunch, Professor of Ethics, Samford University; Dr.
Stanley Burgess, Distinguished Professor of Christian History, Regent
University School of Divinity; Mr. Bart Campolo, Director, The Walnut
Hills Fellowship, Cinicinnati, Ohio; The Rev. Tony Campolo, Professor
Emeritus of Sociology, Eastern University; Dr. R Judson Carlberg, Presi-
dent, Gordon College; The Rev. Richard Cizik, Vice President for Govern-
mental Affairs, National Association of Evangelicals; Dr. Shane Clai-
borne, Author, Activist, The Simple Way; Mr. Andy Crouch, Editorial
Director, Christianity Today International; Professor David Crutchley,
Chair, Theological Education Workgroup, Baptist World Alliance; Alan S.
Cureton, President, Northwestern College; Dr. Thomas Finger, InterChurch
Relations, Mennonite Church, USA; Scholar in Residence at Bethany
Theological Seminary; Professor Timothy Floyd, Professor and Director of
the Law and Public Service Program, Mercer University, School of Law;
Dr. Robert Michael Franklin, President, Morehouse College; Dr. Richard
L. Gathro, Assistant to the President and Dean, Nyack College, DC;
Professor Ivy George, Professor of Sociology, Gordon College; Rev. Dr.
Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary, Reformed Church in Ameri-
ca; Dr. Joel B. Green, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Fuller

Theological Seminary; Dr. Jeffrey Greenman, Associate Dean of Biblical
and Theological Studies and Professor of Christian Ethics, Wheaton
College; The Rev. Dr. Catherine Gregg, Rector, Grace Episcopal Church,
St. George, Utah; The Rev. Dr. David P. Gushee, Distinguished University
Professor of Christian Ethics, Mercer University; Dr. Chuck Gutenson,
Chief Operation Officer, Sojourners; Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T.
Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke University Divinity School;
Mr. Gary Haugen, President and CEO, International Justice Mission; Mr.
Stephen Hayner, Peachtree Professor of Church Growth, Colombia Theolog-
ical Seminary; The Rev. Dr. Roberta Hestenes, Former President, Eastern
University; Dr. Dean R. Hirsch, President and CEO, World Vision Inter-
national; The Rev. Dr. George Hunsinger, Hazel Thompson McCord Profes-
sor of Systematic Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary; Dr. George
R. Hunter III, Distinguished Professor of Evangelization, Asbury
Theological Seminary; The Rev. Dr. Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, North-
land - A Church Distributed; Dr. Cheryl Bridges Johns, Professor of
Discipleship and Christian Formation, Church of God in Christ Theolog-
ical Seminary; The Rev. Dr. J. Ellsworth Kalas, President, Asbury
Theological Seminary; Dr. Brad Kallenberg, Associate Professor of
Theology, University of Dayton; Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston, Director,
Disciples Justice Action; The Rev. Dr. Rick Love, Former International
Director, Frontiers; Mr. Sammy Mah, Prsident and CEO, World Relief; Dr.
Ronald Mahurin, Vice President, Professional Development and Research,
Council for Christian Colleges & Universities; The Rev. Brian McLaren,
Chairman, Sojourners; Mr. Albert J. Meyer, Ret. Executive Secretary,
Mennonite Board of Education; The Rev. Dr. Jesse Miranda, Distinguished
Professor, Vanguard University; The Rev. Dr. Richard Mouw, President,
Fuller Theological Seminary; Mr. David Neff, Editor in Chief, Christian-
ity Today Media Group; Dr. Mary Nelson, President Emeritus, Bethel New
Life, Chicago; Dr. Michael D. Palmer, Dean, School of Divinity, Regents
University; Mr. Ken Perez, President, John Stott Ministries; Dr. John E.
Phelan Jr. President and Dean, North Park Theological Seminary; Dr. Kim
Phipps, President, Messiah College; Dr. Christine Pohl, Professor of
Social Ethics, Asbury Theological Seminary; The Rev. Soong-Chan Rah,
Milton B. Engebretson, Assistant Professor of Church Growth and Evangel-
ism, North Park Theological Seminary; The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez,
National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; Dr. Melissa Rogers,
Visiting Professor of Religion and Public Policy, Wake Forest University
Divinity School; The Rev. Gabriel Salguero, Director, Hispanic Leader-
ship Program, Princeton Theological Seminary; Dr. Andrew Saperstein,
Associate Director, Reconciliation Program, Yale Center for Faith and
Culture; The Rev. Dr. Ronald Sider, Professor of Theology, Holistic
Ministry, and Public Policy, Palmer Theological Seminary; Professor Glen
Stassen, Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics, Fuller Theolog-
ical Seminary; Ambassador Clyde D. Taylor, Former Chair, World Relief;
Dr. Larry Thomas, M.D., President, Tropical Health Alliance; Dr. Daniel
Vestal, Executive Coordinator, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship; Dr.
Miroslav Volf, Henry B. Wright, Professor of Systematic Theology, Yale
University Divinity School; The Rev. Jim Wallis, President and Executive
Director, Sojourners; Dr. Graham B. Walker Jr., Associate Dean and
Professor of Theology, McAfee School of Theology; The Rev. Tyler Wigg-
Stevenson, Director, Biblical Security Covenant; Mr. Samuel C. Wolge-
muth, Chairman of the Board, World Relief; The Rev. Dr. Amos Yong,
Professor of Theology, Regent University School of Divinity
FORMER DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Representative James Jones, former Ambassador to Mexico and former
Chairman of the House Budget Committee, House of Representatives; Secre-
tary Madeleine K. Albright, former Secretary of State; former U.S.

Ambassador to the U.N.; Secretary Warren Christopher, former Secretary
of State, former Deputy Secretary of State, former Deputy Attorney
General; Secretary George P. Shultz, former Secretary of State; former
Secretary of Labor; former Secretary of the Treasury; Ambassador Richard
L. Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State; Assistant Secretary of
Defense for International Security Affairs; Ambassador Marc Grossman,
former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs; Assistant Secre-
tary of State for European Affairs; Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering,
former Under Secretary of State and Career Ambassador; Ambassador Frank
Wisner; former Under Secretary of State for International Security
Affairs; former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; Lorne Craner,
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Rights and Labor;
Harold Koh, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human
Rights and Labor; Dr. Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Deputy to the Under Secretary
of State, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security
Affairs; Head of the National Intelligence Council, Harvard Professor;
Ambassador Peter W. Galbraith, former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia;
Senior Diplomatic Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proli-
feration; Ambassador Felix Rohatyn, former US Ambassador to France

FORMER DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Secretary William Cohen, former Secretary of Defense; former U.S.
Senator; Secretary Harold Brown, Former Secretary of Defense; Counselor
and Trustee, Center for Strategic & International Studies; Secretary
William Perry, former Secretary of Defense, former co director of the
Center for International Security and Arms Control, Member of Iraq Study
Group; Dr. John J. Hamre, former Deputy Secretary of Defense, President
& CEO, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Ambassador
William H. Taft, IV, former Deputy Secretary of Defense; former chief
Legal Advisor, Department of State; William J. Lynn, former Under Secre-
tary of Defense; Dr. Ashton B. Carter, former Assistant Secretary of
Defense; Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project, International Security
Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Frank
Kendall, Director of Tactical Warfare Programs in the Office of the
Secretary of Defense; Deputy Assistant Undersecretary of Defense for
Strategic Defense Systems

RETIRED MILITARY FLAG OFFICERS
Admiral Archie Clemins (USN-Ret.), Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific
Fleet; General Ronald R. Fogleman (USAF-Ret.), former Chief of Staff of
the Air Force; General Joseph P. Hoar (USMC-Ret.), former Commander,
U.S. Central Command (1991-1994); former Chief of Staff, U.S. Central
Command (1988-1990); Admiral Greg G. Johnson (USN-Ret.), Former Comman-
der, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Commander, Allied Forces Command,
Naples, Italy; General James L. Jones (USMC-Ret.), former Commandant,
U.S. Marine Corps; General John P. Jumper (USAF-Ret.), former Chief of
Staff of the Air Force; General Paul J. Kern (USA-Ret.), former Command-
ing General, Army Materiel Command; General Merrill A. McPeak
(USAF-Ret.), former Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force; General Joseph W.
Ralston (USAF-Ret.); General Volney F. Warner (USA-Ret.), former Comman-
der in Chief of the United States Readiness Command (1979-81); Lt. Gen.
Robert G. Gard, Jr. (USA-Ret.) President Emeritus, Monterey Institute
for International Studies; Senior Military Fellow at the Center for Arms
Control and Non-Proliferation; Lt. Gen. Claudia J. Kennedy (USA-Ret.),
former Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence at Headquarters, Depart-
ment of the Military; former Commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting
Command; The late Lt. General William E. Odom (USA-Ret.), Director of
the National Security Agency (1985-88); Hudson Institute Senior Fellow;

Yale University Professor; Lt. General Charles P. Otstott (USA-Ret.),
Deputy Chairman, NATO Military Committee, 1990-1992; Vice Admiral Jack
A. Shanahan (USN-Ret.), Former Director of the Center for Defense Infor-
mation and Former Chairman of the Military Advisory Committee, Business
Leaders for Sensible Priorities; Lt. General Harry E. Soyster (USA-Ret.
former Assistant Chief of Staff, Army Intelligence; Lt. General James M.
Thompson (USA-Ret.), former Director for Estimates, Defense Intelligence
Agency and former Deputy Director for Plans, Policy and National Securi-
ty Council Affairs in the Secretary of Defense's Office; Major General
Eugene Fox (USA-Ret.), Deputy Director of the Strategic Defense Initi-
ative Office; Rear Admiral Donald J. Guter (USN-Ret.), Judge Advocate
General of the Navy; Rear Admiral John D. Hutson (USN-Ret.), Judge Advo-
cate General of the Navy; Maj. General Melvyn S. Montano (USAF-Ret.),
Adjutant general in charge of National Guard in New Mexico (1994-99);
Major General Thomas J. Romig (USA-Ret.), Former Judge Advocate General
of the Army; Dean and Professor of Law, Washburn University School of
Law; Brigadier General Hugh Aitken (USMC-Ret.), former Assistant Divi-
sion Commander, 2d Marine Division; former Director, Manpower Plans and
Policy Division; Brigadier General David M. Brahms (USMC-Ret.), Marine
Corps' senior legal advisor (1983-88); Judge Advocates Association board
of directors; Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney (USMC-Ret.), former
Inspector General of the Marine Corps; President, Marine Military Acade-
my; Brigadier General James P. Cullen (USA-Ret.), U.S. Army Reserve
Judge Advocate General's Corps; Chief Judge, U.S. Army Court of Criminal
Appeals; Brigadier General Evelyn "Pat" Foote (USA-Ret.), Commanding
General of Fort Belvoir; Vice Chair, Secretary of Army's Senior Review
Panel on Sexual Harassment; Brigadier General David Irvine (USA-Ret.),
Faculty assignment for 18 years with the Sixth U.S. Army Intelligence
School; Deputy Commander for the 96th Regional Readiness Command; Briga-
dier General John H. Johns (USA-Ret.), former Deputy Assistant Secretary
of Defense, former professor at the National Defense University; Briga-
dier General Richard M. O'Meara (USA-Ret.), Army's Judge Advocate Gener-
al Corps; Brigadier General Maurice D. Roush (USA-Ret.), Commander of
the U.S. Army Engineer Pacific Ocean Division; Last American Lt. Gov.
(Dep. Civ. Adm.) of Okinawa; Asia Operations Manager for Daniel, Mann,
Johnson and Mendenhall; Dean of Engineering at St. Martin's University;
Brigadier General Stephen N. Xenakis (USA-Ret.), M.D., Commanding Gener-
al of the Southeast Regional Army Medical Command

NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERTS
Senator John Glenn, former Senator from Ohio, former Astronaut and Colo-
nel (USMC-Ret.); Senator Gary Hart, former Senator from Colorado;
co-chair of the U.S. Commission on National Security for the 21st Centu-
ry; Governor Thomas Kean, Chair of the National Commission on Terrorist
Attacks upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission), former Governor of
New Jersey, President of Drew University; Sandy Berger, former National
Security Advisor; Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security
Adviser; Carl Ford, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence
and Research, U.S. Department of State; former U.S. Army Military Intel-
ligence Officer; CIA National Intelligence Officer for East Asia; Jessi-
ca Tuchman Mathews, former Director of the National Security Council's
Office of Global Issues; deputy to the Undersecretary of State for
Global Affairs; Rand Beers, former National Security Council Staff;
Jeffrey Smith, former General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency
and Army Judge Advocate General Officer
LEGAL EXPERTS
Senator J. Bennett Johnston, former Senator from Louisiana, U.S. Army,
Judge Advocate General Corps., Germany; Senator Charles S. Robb, former

Senator from Virginia, Chair Iraq Intelligence Commission (2004), Marine
Corps, Vietnam, Bronze Star recipient; Harry McPherson, Counsel to Pres-
ident Johnson; Deputy Under-Secretary of the Army for international
affairs; member of Department of Army Secretariat; Alberto J. Mora,
former U.S. Navy General Counsel; Theodore C. Sorensen, special counsel
& adviser to John F. Kennedy; a member of the Cuban Missile Crisis Exec-
utive Committee of the National Security Council; David Acheson, former
US Attorney for the District of Columbia; former President of the U.S.
Atlantic Council; John Morton Moore, Professor of Law, the University of
Virginia
COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERTS
Vincent Cannistraro, former Director of Intelligence Programs for the
United States National Security Council; former Chief of Operations and
Analysis at the CIA's Counterterrorist Center; Jack Cloonan, former FBI
security and counterterrorism expert; Burton Gerber, retired CIA oper-
ations officer and professor at Georgetown University; Professor Paul R.
Pillar, Georgetown University professor; former National Intelligence
Officer for the Near East and South Asia; former Deputy Chief, DCI Coun-
terterrorist Center; Frank Warren Snepp, Journalist and former chief
analyst of North Vietnamese strategy for the CIA in Saigon; former CIA
interrogator

WORLD WAR II INTERROGATORS
George L. Frenkel (USA-Ret.) Military Intelligence Service; Henry Kolm
(USA-Ret.) Military Intelligence Service; Dr. George Mandel (USA-Ret.)
Military Intelligence Service; Peter Weiss (USA-Ret.) Military Intelli-
gence Service; and be it further