WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King today announced their decision to vote in favor of declassifying the Findings & Conclusions and Executive Summary of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report regarding the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Detention and Interrogation Program. This report was originally approved by the Committee in December 2012, before Senators Collins and King joined the Committee. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is expected to vote on the declassification of the report's Findings & Conclusions and lengthy Executive Summary on Thursday.  

Following is a joint statement from Senators Collins and King:

“We remain strongly opposed to the use of torture, believing that it is fundamentally contrary to American values. While we have some concerns about the process for developing the report, its findings lead us to conclude that some detainees were subjected to techniques that constituted torture. This inhumane and brutal treatment never should have occurred. Further, the report raises serious concerns about the CIA’s management of this program. 

“Our vote to declassify this report does not signal our full endorsement of all of its conclusions or its methodology. The report has some intrinsic limitations because it did not involve direct interviews of CIA officials, contract personnel, or other Executive branch personnel. It also, unfortunately, did not include the participation of the staff of Republican Committee members. We do, however, believe in transparency and believe that the Executive Summary, and Additional and Dissenting Views, and the CIA’s rebuttal should be made public with appropriate redactions so the American public can reach their own conclusions about the conduct of this program.

“Torture is wrong, and we must make sure that the misconduct and the grave errors made in the CIA’s detention and interrogation program never happen again.”

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