Congress takes a go-slow approach to detainee trials

Even though the Bush administration is pressing Congress to restore its authority for secret military commissions it used to handle the cases of military detainees quickly, lawmakers are unlikely to move legislation until this fall at the earliest.

Even though the Bush administration is pressing Congress to restore its authority for secret military commissions it used to handle the cases of military detainees quickly, lawmakers are unlikely to move legislation until this fall at the earliest.

If the fierce debate over the treatment of military detainees, which held up two defense bills until the end of 2005, is any indication, it could be extremely difficult to enact a detainee measure this election year.

The Supreme Court last month ruled in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that a Yemeni detainee at the Guant