Political Quotes

“I will yield after I complete my point. I believe most of us feel if someone is charged with terrorism--an American citizen--that normally they would be subjected to constitutional protections and rights as American citizens. For those who believe in military tribunals--and I know the Senator from South Carolina does because he has been engaged in them personally and feels they are an honorable and effective way of prosecuting individuals--he knows, as I do, we have gone through in the last 10 years a series of Supreme Court cases that have questioned whether we are handling military tribunals in the right fashion. The law is not settled when it comes to military tribunals, but the law is clearly settled when it comes to article 3 criminal courts, to the point that 300 alleged terrorists have been successfully prosecuted and convicted. So I think this is worthy of debate. It is a valid issue. The security of America will always be a valid issue on the floor of the Senate. But let's do it in a thoughtful way. This matter was not referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was not referred to the Senate Intelligence Committee. It was decided by the Armed Services Committee. As good as they are, as great as the people are who serve on that committee, there are others who should have a voice in the process. I yield to the Senator from South Carolina if he has a question he would like to direct through the Chair.”