Political Quotes

“This amendment would strike section 411, which specifically restricts the Defense Department from transferring Guantanamo detainees to the United States. Striking section 411 would enable the U.S. military to be able to make the most responsible decisions on transferring the 77 detainees who have been cleared by our intelligence community and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be able to go to their home countries and bring those not cleared for release to the United States to be charged, tried, and sentenced. The Obama administration has made some real progress on this issue over the last year, but it is still the case that Guantanamo is a rallying cry for extremists around the world, and until we transfer and try these detainees, there is no denying that Guantanamo is in fact hurting our national security. We need to reevaluate our response to the long-term threat of terrorism and realize that policies that mock the rule of law make it more likely, rather than less likely, that we will be attacked again. How can we expect Americans who are captured abroad to be accorded the right to be sentenced and brought to trial when we hold 154 prisoners in Guantanamo without charge and without trial? Some of my colleagues are going to argue that detaining or trying suspected terrorists in the United States would endanger national security, but it is not the case.…”