Rob Andrews: “I thank my friend for yielding. First, let me say that I think we all agree that our servicemembers who served us at…”

“I thank my friend for yielding. First, let me say that I think we all agree that our servicemembers who served us at Guantanamo have done a tremendous job and have brought great honor to our country. We thank and respect all of them. I also believe that there is unanimity here that if someone is a credible threat to the United States, they should be detained, tried, and brought to justice. The question is where to do that. Why should it be Guantanamo? Do defendants have greater rights if they are transferred from Guantanamo to a place in the United States? The Supreme Court has said, no, they don't. So there's no tactical advantage in a trial. Are they more likely to escape if they're transferred to the United States? History says ``no.'' The number of escapes from maximum prisons, the supermax prisons, in the United States has been zero. Is it less expensive to hold them at Guantanamo? Most certainly not. The average cost of incarcerating someone in a Federal maximum security supermax prison is $34,000 a year. The cost to the taxpayer of incarcerating someone at Guantanamo is over $1.6 million a year. Is there some strategic advantage globally to holding these detainees at Guantanamo? The opposite is true.…”