Political Quotes

“this is a serious and very important vote. During the debate last week, I made a statement about what rights our troops would have. Our troops, once they are charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, get appeal rights under the military system, and they do have habeas rights about their criminal misconduct. What I am trying to say--I got it wrong--is when our troops are enemy prisoners there is no right to appeal to the civil courts wherever they may be, nor has there ever been a right for an enemy prisoner to go to our court. Senator Kerry gave me some good advice. I misstated, and I am sorry. But the concept of an enemy prisoner or enemy combatant not having access to civilian courts has been the tradition of 200 years. We are about to end this whole endeavor on a high note. I thank Senator Kyl for being a very constructive finder of solutions, and I thank Senator Levin for going that extra mile to find a way we can leave this issue with honor. This Levin-Graham-Kyl amendment allows every detainee under our control to have their day in court. They are allowed to appeal their convictions, if they are tried by military commissions--a model that goes back for decades to the Federal courts of this country, if they get a sentence of 10 years or the death penalty. We are going to have court review. An enemy combatant will not be left at Guantanamo without a court looking at whether they are properly characterized.…”