Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today, I am reintroducing legislation to ensure that no American Citizen or green card holder faces indefinite detention without charge or trial. Indefinite detention is an unfortunate legacy of America's not-too- distant past. The internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II remains a dark spot on our Nation's legacy, and it is something we should never repeat. To ensure that this reprehensible experience would never happen again, Congress passed, and President Nixon signed into law, the Non- Detention Act of 1971. The Act states that ``no citizen shall be imprisoned or otherwise detained by the United States except pursuant to an Act of Congress.'' One would have hoped that this legislation would have brought an end to the notion that Americans could ever again be imprisoned at the whim of the Executive. Yet, in 2002, Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in Chicago. He was initially detained pursuant to a material witness warrant based on the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but he was later designated as an ``enemy combatant'' who conspired with al-Qaeda to carry out terrorist attacks inside the United States. Padilla was transferred to the military brig in South Carolina, where he was detained for three-and-a-half years while seeking habeas corpus relief. Padilla was never charged with attempting to carry out a terrorist attack.…”