Political Quotes

“This is an amendment that Mr. Amash, Ms. Lee, I, and others have worked on in previous years. It is a very simple principle. Certainly, with the 9/11 attacks, with the terrorism threat that we face, it is very real, and we need to make sure that our country is in a position to defend ourselves against that. But we also need to make sure that we protect the thing that gives us our greatest strength, and that is the rule of law in our Constitution. This amendment simply says you cannot use law of war detention against people in the United States of America. Our Article III courts have worked amazingly well throughout the history of this country. Through many conflicts and many threats, they worked very well to bring people to justice, lock them up, and protect us. In fact, there are hundreds of terrorists right now in U.S. prisons who were prosecuted under Article III of the Constitution. Article III and the history of the Supreme Court and other courts that have laid out the laws that give us the basic protections are essential to our liberty in this country. We can protect ourselves and maintain our basic liberties. That is what this amendment does. Mr. Chair, I appreciate Mr. Amash bringing it, and I urge support.”