[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 80 (Thursday, June 16, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H4565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SUPPORTING CONTINUED OPERATION OF DETENTION FACILITY IN GUANTANAMO BAY

  (Mr. WESTMORELAND asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call on my colleagues 
in the House to support the continued operation of the detention 
facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
  If it is proven that detainees have suffered abusive treatment, we 
should take corrective action, but continue to operate the detention 
facility.
  I ask my colleagues, what good does it do to simply move to a 
different location? The fact is, we have to put these enemy combatants 
somewhere. What better place than a heavily guarded island?
  Mr. Speaker, the detainees at Guantanamo are not there for jaywalking 
or stealing a Snickers bar from the 7-Eleven. They are well-trained, 
hate-filled jihadists inflamed by an anti-American ideology. If they 
were released back into the wild, they would not return to a quiet 
family life of shepherding in the mountains of Afghanistan. They would 
simply take up arms to fight Americans again.
  Already we have recaptured combatants on the battlefield who had been 
released from Guantanamo. We should learn a lesson from that. Let us 
make sure they stay there.

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