On the recordDecember 3, 2014
I rise today, along with my colleague from New Hampshire, to discuss an issue that has been spoken about on this floor over the last several years many times, but it continues to be a problem. The Senator from New Hampshire has been very focused, as have I, on this issue, which is the release of detainees from Guantanamo and the fact that we know that not only are there dangerous individuals there who should not be released, but we also know these individuals are returning to the fight, and they are scheming and planning and intending to do harm to America and Americans. So we wish to visit this issue again. I wish to start off by saying that it is well-founded in our Nation's history that the United States has the authority to hold enemy combatants until the end of hostilities in order to prevent their return to the battlefield. For the past several years, each National Defense Authorization Act that has been signed into law by the President has recognized this principle and made clear that any Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists, whether foreign or American, who takes up arms against the United States can be held under the law of war.…





