Political Quotes

“I note in his opposing this amendment that the gentleman simply said it is part of a larger policy discussion about Guantanamo. He is correct. He said that there is identical language in other bills. He is correct. He said that we should remove that language from the other bills, and he points out that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other high-value prisoners are at Guantanamo. He is correct. We are to bring them to the United States. We are to try them and convict them and either sentence them to death or to life in prison without parole or whatever. That is our tradition. We don't simply declare someone is a bad guy and hold him forever without a trial. Our Federal courts in the United States have an excellent record of trying and convicting people accused of terrorism. In the military tribunals at Guantanamo, they can't even run a trial. It has come to a complete standstill. It is really missing the point to say that there are some very bad people at Guantanamo. Yes, there are. There are also some perfectly innocent people at Guantanamo. Those people ought to be released. The people who we think are guilty of something should be charged and tried. To simply say that someone is not going to be charged and tried but be held for life imprisonment without a trial is not what this country is about. I yield back the balance of my time.”