Political Quotes

“first, let me thank my colleague and friend from the State of Oklahoma for yielding time and the Senator from Michigan for manufacturing this close so both sides will be heard as we come to this important vote. For 11 years now--for 11 years--I have been coming to the Senate floor giving speeches about closing Guantanamo. This is my 66th speech calling for the closure of Guantanamo. This year I held a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. I brought in military experts, and I asked them: Do we need Guantanamo? Here is what they said. In fact, here is what we heard from Retired MG Paul Eaton, who served for 30 years in the Army and was the commanding general of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team in Iraq. He said: Guantanamo is a terrorist creating institution and is a direct facilitator in filling out the ranks of Al Qaeda and other terror organizations that would attack the U.S. or our interests. General Eaton said: Guantanamo, in military terms, is a recruitment tool of the first order. Then I went down to the Southern Command in Miami, FL, and I met with the generals there who have the responsibility of running Guantanamo. When I asked them about Guantanamo, there was a sadness that came over the conversation, and they talked about how difficult it was--with about 160 or 165 detainees remaining down there--how difficult and how expensive it was for them to maintain that facility.…”