Political Quotes

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I oppose this amendment in large part because of the broader debate over closing Guantanamo, and this amendment makes it even more difficult to close Guantanamo, which is a policy we ought do. Again, President Bush, Secretary Gates, endless string of military leaders, and, in a bipartisan way, when John McCain was running for President, people have said that we should close Guantanamo. It is not a policy that we should continue. For beginners, it costs nearly $3 million an inmate now to house them there, when the ones that need to be kept can be safely housed in the United States. We have proven that we are perfectly capable of locking up terrorists and protecting our country. We have well over 300 terrorists right now locked up in the United States of America, including Ramzi Yousef, The Blind Sheik, Zacarias Moussaoui, and a number of very, very bad guys. We can do it in the U.S. We do not need Guantanamo. Beyond that, the amendment here makes it very, very difficult to transfer anybody, and a large number of inmates at Guantanamo have been cleared for transfer. They have been deemed not to be a threat, and they are cleared to be transferred. Mrs. Walorski's amendment would make it pretty much impossible to transfer them. These are people that we have already decided are not going to be a threat, and now, we are going to pass an amendment saying we are simply going to lock them up and hold them forever just because.…”