Waterboarding ban fails in House

In his veto message Saturday, Bush said: "The fact that we have not been attacked over the past 6 1/2 years is not a matter of chance. It is the result of good policies and the determined efforts of individuals carrying them out."

Democrats noted in the debate that Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has parted company with the White House over the use of waterboarding. McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam and an outspoken opponent of torture, voted against the ban because he said it would hamper interrogators. But he reiterated his specific opposition to waterboarding as "illegal."

With Democratic Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York also opposed to waterboarding, Rep. Mark Steven Kirk (R-Ill.) announced during the debate that "all the candidates are against waterboarding. In January, that will be over." With that assurance, he said, House leaders should then let the surveillance bill come to the floor.

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johanna.neuman@latimes.com