On the recordDecember 1, 2011
In the Military Commission Act of 2009, we prohibited American citizens from being tried by military commissions. I am OK with that. But what we have not done--and I would be very upset if we chose to do that--is take off the table the ability to interrogate an American citizen who has chosen to help al-Qaida regarding what they know about the enemy and what intelligence they may provide us to prevent a future attack. Since homegrown terrorism is a growing threat, under the current law, if an American citizen became radical, went to Pakistan and trained with al-Qaida or an affiliated group, flew back to Dulles Airport, got off the plane, got a rifle, went down to the Mall right behind us and started shooting people, does the Senator agree with me that under the law as it exists today, that person could be held as an enemy combatant, that person could be interrogated by our military and intelligence community and we could hold them as long as necessary to find out what they know about any future attacks or any past attacks and we don't have to read them their Miranda rights?
