Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This amendment has to do with whether or not to try anyone in Guantanamo or any non-U.S. citizen captured abroad going forward in Article 3 courts in the United States. The underlying legislation prohibits anyone currently at Guantanamo or anyone who would be brought there in the future and, for that matter, any non-U.S. citizen captured abroad from being tried in Article 3 courts. This really grew out of the larger debate over whether or not to close Guantanamo Bay. But one thing I want to make clear, you can support my amendment even if you believe that Guantanamo Bay should remain open. Now, I don't. I believe that we should close it, that we should handle those terrorists, whether we handle them by military commission, by Article 3 court, or by indefinite detention, that they should not be held at Guantanamo. But you can still hold Guantanamo Bay open and support my amendment. What my amendment says is we want to make sure that Article 3 courts are still a possibility for trying these terrorists. The main problem I have with the underlying bill is it takes that possibility off the table and requires either a military commission or indefinite detention, and I think that is a bad and dangerous policy. Now, we have to understand that we have already tried and convicted over 400 international terrorists in our Federal courts, in our Article 3 courts.…”