I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4728 
To affirm that the United States may not engage in torture or cruel, 
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 25, 2004 
Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. WATERS, and 
Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the 
Committees on the Judiciary and International Relations, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To affirm that the United States may not engage in torture 
or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punish-
ment, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Responsible 
Interrogation Standards Enforcement Act of 2004’’ or 
‘‘PRISE Act of 2004’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) After World War II, the United States and 
its allies created a new international legal order 
based on respect for human rights. One of its funda-
mental tenets was a universal prohibition on torture 
and ill treatment. 
(2) On June 26, 2003, the International Day in 
Support of Victims of Torture, President George W. 
Bush stated, ‘‘The United States is committed to 
the world-wide elimination of torture and we are 
leading this fight by example. I call on all govern-
ments to join with the United States and the com-
munity of law-abiding nations in prohibiting, inves-
tigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture and in 
undertaking to prevent other cruel and unusual pun-
ishment.’’. 
(3) The United States is a party to the Geneva 
Conventions, which prohibit torture, cruel treatment, 
or outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, 
humiliating and degrading treatment, during armed 
conflict. 
(4) The United States is a party to 2 treaties 
that prohibit torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrad-
ing treatment or punishment, as follows:
(A) The International Covenant on Civil 
and Political Rights, done at New York on De-
cember 16, 1966. 
(B) The Convention against Torture and 
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment 
or Punishment, done at New York on December 
10, 1984. 
(5) The United States filed reservations to the 
treaties described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 
paragraph (4) stating that the United States con-
siders itself bound to prevent ‘‘cruel, inhuman or de-
grading treatment or punishment’’ to the extent that 
phrase means the cruel, unusual, and inhumane 
treatment or punishment prohibited by the 5th 
amendment, 8th amendment, or 14th amendment to 
the Constitution. 
(6) Army Regulation 190–8 entitled ‘‘Enemy 
Prisoners of War, Retained Personnel, Civilian In-
ternees and Other Detainees’’ provides that ‘‘Inhu-
mane treatment is a serious and punishable violation 
under international law and the Uniform Code of 
Military Justice (UCMJ). . . . All prisoners will re-
ceive humane treatment without regard to race, na-
tionality, religion, political opinion, sex, or other cri-
teria. The following acts are prohibited: murder, tor-