Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I am going to speak now against the pending amendment of Senator Ayotte, which would prohibit the prosecution of terrorists in Federal courts. We need all available tools against terrorists, including the possibility of prosecution in Federal courts or before military commissions. While there is no doubt we have made use of military commissions in the course of previous wars, we have never enacted legislation closing the Federal courts to the prosecution of our enemies. We have always left it up to the executive branch to determine which tool best suits an individual case. Indeed, both the Bush administration and the Obama administration have repeatedly used the Federal courts to bring terrorists to justice. For example, the Bush administration successfully used the Federal courts to prosecute Richard Reid, the so-called shoe bomber, in October of 2002. The Bush administration used the Federal courts to successfully prosecute Ahmed Omar Abu, who was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in 2005. The Bush administration used the Federal courts to prosecute and sentence Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called twentieth hijacker, convicted in 2006, and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 9/11 attacks.…”