Washington—Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today issued the following statement on the new Presidential Directive on Terrorist Detention that exempts certain terrorist suspects from Section 1022 (Mandatory Military Custody) of the FY 2012 Defense Authorization Act:

“I support the Presidential Policy Directive issued yesterday because it will help maintain the flexibility of the Executive Branch to decide how best to detain and interrogate terrorist suspects to thwart future attacks. 

“The effect of these new procedures is that the FBI and the Department of Justice will continue to take the lead to detain, prosecute and interrogate terrorists captured in the United States. 

“This directive conforms with the detainee provisions in last year’s defense bill as Congress intended, as well as our past practice under the rule of law that the military should not patrol our streets and take people into custody on U.S. soil.”

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