before the senate voted in february, there were two weeks of debate over the cia's use of waterboarding on three al-qaeda prisoners in 2002 and 2003. the united states department of justice was also expected to tell the house that "there has been no determination by the justice department" was legal or illegal. the bush administration had also just announced that it planned to put six war on terror detainees from guantanamo bay - five of which had been subjected to the cia tactics - on trial for involvement in the sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.