Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, the safety of Americans, the security of America, should never be jeopardized for any reason, but certainly not simply for the purpose of fulfilling a campaign pledge. The President recently released a plan about closing Guantanamo Bay, and it demonstrates to me--and I think to the American people--that his plan is misguided, as well as his priorities. The proposal to close Guantanamo proves that his priority lies in leaving behind a legacy rather than protecting the American people and American national security. As a matter of fact, it presents nothing more than another attempt to fulfill a campaign promise and distracts, based on the timing, from the administration's failure to defeat ISIS. Perhaps it explains why the administration missed a separate congressionally mandated deadline last week for a plan to counter radical Islamic extremism. So he missed that deadline but was on time for an incomplete plan to close Guantanamo and the detention facility for terrorists that remains on that post. Now, Congress is a coequal branch of government. It is coequal to the President, equal in power, equal in representation of America's interests, and it has come to a different conclusion than the President. We have absolutely strong and justified reasons for our concern. Mr. Speaker, last September, the Director of National Intelligence reported that 30 percent of transfer detainees are confirmed or suspected to be reengaging in terrorist activities. Thirty percent.…”