Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I will support the Feinstein-Paul amendment. This amendment would make it clear that Congress has not authorized the indefinite detention of American citizens or lawful permanent residents apprehended in the United States without charge or trial. This is a common-sense amendment that should be completely noncontroversial. It has long been understood that is unconstitutional to indefinitely detain someone apprehended in the United States without charge or trial. Indeed, the fifth amendment of the Constitution provides simply that ``no person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.'' Indefinite detention in the United States is not just unconstitutional, it is unnecessary. Look at the track record. Since 9/ 11, our counterterrorism professionals have prevented another terrorist attack in the United States. And more than 400 terrorists have successfully been prosecuted and convicted in federal court. Here are just a few of the terrorists who have been convicted in federal court and are serving long prison sentences: Umar Faruk Abulmutallab, the Underwear Bomber; Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 WTC bombing; Omar Abdel Rahman, the so-called ``Blind Sheikh''; 20th 9/11 hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui; and Richard Reid, the ``Shoebomber''. Some of my colleagues have claimed that the Supreme Court's Hamdi decision upheld the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens captured in the United States, but it did no such thing.…”