By no means is this perfect legislation, and I remain concerned by the detainee policy.

And so it is urgent that Congress step in to tie our detainee policy to our national interest.

The administration likes to present its harsh detainee policies as aimed exclusively at foreigners.

The report said that of seven investigations by the Pentagon, none had critically examined the role of the civilian leaders with ultimate authority over detainee policy.

One of those issues was the establishment of a common sense and coherent detainee policy.

For instance, General Maples has been the point man for the Joint Staff on detainee policy and operations.

Paul Butler, who was the senior Pentagon official for detainee policy until recently becoming Mr. Rumsfeld's chief of staff, was even more expansive.

Senator Graham said one was whether military lawyers had raised questions about detainee policies, only to be ignored by the Pentagon's civilian leaders.

A spokesman for the department, Col. Gary L. Keck, said it would not discuss its deliberations on detainee policy or any "predecisional documents."

Those nominees include William Haynes II, a chief architect of the administration's detainee policies.