Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I have heard a lot of hyperbole tonight. Of course we are at war. Part of the glory of this country is the values we hold dear. We have a Federal court system that has worked. We have 373 people connected to terrorism serving time in the Federal prisons of the United States of America. They are under an entity called the Bureau of Prisons that sees that the facilities are run the way they should be. Most are in isolated areas, such as the one in Florence in Colorado. It is far from the city--I think some 30 miles--and is a maximum security prison in part. The GAO report just released yesterday showed that the Federal prison system can hold Guantanamo detainees safely and securely. To keep Guantanamo open forever, to say that there is no flexibility as to what you can do with the detainees in terms of transferring them into the United States, into Federal custody, I think is wrong. I have seen and watched on the Judiciary Committee and the Intelligence Committee real problems with military commissions. I think Senator Graham understands that and has seen it as well. I do not believe the rate of convictions in Military Commissions any way equals the rate of convictions in Federal courts and think about how much time it has taken to get the Military Commission trials going compared to federal courts.…”