Political Quotes

“The reason we have not had more is because the Obama administration withdrew charges. Thank goodness they have reinstated charges. There are military commission hearings going on as we speak. I am in the camp of ``all the above.'' Sometimes article 3 courts are the best venue, sometimes military commissions. The Ghailani case was someone we held as an enemy combatant for years, took to Federal court and 200-and-something charges and got convicted on 1. Our Federal courts are not set up to deal with people who have been held as enemy combatants under the law of war, then tried in civilian systems. The Christmas Day Bomber, it made perfect sense to me to put him in an article 3 court. We found out he was a low-level guy, not one of the higher-ups. But if we catch someone here at home or overseas who is involved deeply in terrorism in terms of what they know, then we would hold them for a period of time to question them. Then, if you wanted to decide to prosecute, military commissions make the most sense. So the only reason we have not had more military commission trials is because they have been stopped. I am not saying Federal courts are not an appropriate venue sometimes. I am saying that when you hold someone under the law of war for years to gather intelligence, which you have a right to do, we need to keep them in the same system, and you see what happens when you mix systems. I am very proud of the bill, great debate to have, long overdue.…”