Political Quotes

“Mr. President, if I could finish my thought, what I would suggest to Senator Lee is that the prudent thing for us to do is to have another hearing because the last one we had was in 2012. Listen to the FBI Director and Homeland Security Secretary and see why they feel so strongly about homegrown terrorism and see if we can find a way to move forward. But what the Senator from Utah and others have said-- there is not one American being held as an enemy combatant today. There are thousands of people who have helped us in Afghanistan who will be killed if we don't do something about it. The Senator from Utah and I will never agree on this issue, and I respect my friend greatly. I believe we are fighting a war, not a crime. I will never agree that because you are an American citizen, you can collaborate with the enemy and work actively with Al Qaeda and ISIL to attack your homeland and not be held under the law of war, which we have been doing for decades in other wars. I do believe in due process. As the law is written today, if our military or intelligence community picks up someone they believe is collaborating with ISIL or Al Qaeda, someone covered as an enemy combatant, they can be held, but they can be held only if a Federal judge allows the continued holding. You do get a hearing under the habeas corpus statute. The government has to prove you are, in fact, an enemy combatant. The last time we had this debate, it was suggested this was a slippery slope.…”