Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman. That is why section 32 of this Defense bill will allow the Department of Defense to temporarily transfer Guantanamo detainees to the United States for emergency or critical medical treatment. No one is talking about releasing these detainees into the United States. The section is about providing medical care to people in our custody. The other Guantanamo provisions in this year's defense bill clarify and improve the existing authority to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo, to other nations, responsibly. Specifically, Section 1031 replaces a cumbersome six-part certification requirement and partial waiver regime in current law with a more sensible, factor-based standard designed to mitigate any risks, but allow transfers to foreign countries and into the U.S. for criminal prosecution. Let me be clear about this last point: Al Qaeda terrorists should be transferred to the U.S. for prosecution in Federal criminal courts because for some of them, Federal criminal court is the only option left besides indefinite detention or release. I regret to say this, but the military commission system at Guantanamo has failed. Although the issue is being appealed, under current law, the military commission system cannot be used to prosecute the terrorists at Gitmo for the crimes of material support and conspiracy, which are two crimes commonly charged in federal criminal court.…”