Resolution condemning torture likely will not get hearing

A resolution condemning the use of torture by the U.S. government is not expected to get a hearing from the 2006 Legislature, much to the disappointment of its sponsor, Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake.

McCoy's SJR5 was assigned Thursday to the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee, headed by Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo. Bramble, who called the resolution blatantly partisan, said he would not schedule a hearing on it.

The decision to assign the bill to an unfriendly committee was made by the Senate Rules Committee, which counts Bramble as a member. McCoy said his resolution wasn't an attempt to go after President Bush.

"This isn't about that," McCoy said. "If anything, I thought this was something where Democrats and Republicans could actually find common ground." The resolution condemns torture "as a barbarous violation of human rights, intellectual freedom and the rule of law."

There was some talk Thursday that opponents of the resolution might substitute language supporting American troops fighting in the war on terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq rather than just letting it die in committee.