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JOINT RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO REVIEW PORTIONS OF THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT
WE, your Memorialists, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Maine now assembled in the Second Regular Session, most respectfully present and petition the President of the United States and the United States Congress as follows:
WHEREAS, the United States Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2012 on December 15, 2011, and the President of the United States signed the Act into law on December 31, 2011; and
WHEREAS,  the Act directs the Armed Forces of the United States to detain any person who is captured in the course of hostilities authorized by the federal Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists and who is determined to be a member of or part of al-Qaeda or an associated force that acts in coordination with or pursuant to the direction of al-Qaeda and to have participated in the course of planning or carrying out an attack against the United States or its coalition partners; and
WHEREAS,  the disagreements and uncertainty in interpretation of the law has raised significant concerns about due process for United States citizens; and
WHEREAS,  the prospect of the indefinite detention of United States citizens violates, without due process of law, basic rights enshrined in the United States Constitution, such as the right to seek a writ of habeas corpus, the right to petition for a redress of grievances, the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and the right to counsel; and
WHEREAS,  it is crucial to national security that funding contained in the National Defense Authorization Act for the Department of Defense and members of the military and their dependents remain intact; and
WHEREAS,  the members of this Legislature have taken an oath to uphold the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Maine; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That We, your Memorialists, most respectfully urge and request that the President of the United States and the United States Congress amend the National Defense Authorization Act to clarify that any provisions contained within will not deprive United States citizens of the rights of due process; and be it further
RESOLVED: That suitable copies of this resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to the Honorable Barack H. Obama, President of the United States, to the President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and to each Member of the Maine Congressional Delegation.