[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 186 (Thursday, December 11, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10937-S10939]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ANNOUNCING CHRISTOPHER JAMES DUFFIELD

  Mr. KYL. Madam President, I rise today to announce to the Senate the 
arrival of another Duffield in this world. Christopher James Duffield 
was born to his parents, Steven and Cara, on the third day of November. 
Christopher's father Steven served as the executive director of the 
Platform Committee at this year's Republican Convention in Minneapolis. 
Prior to that, Steven served as a senior policy advisor and chief 
counsel to me at the Republican Policy Committee and the Senate 
Republican Conference. Christopher's mother, Cara, is a partner at the 
law firm of Wiley Rein.
  Christopher joins us at what is a tumultuous and difficult time for 
both the Nation and the Republican Party. On November 4, we Republicans 
fared poorly in Federal elections, losing the Presidency and deepening 
our deficit in the House and Senate. The new majority promises to cure 
the Nation's economic ills with a Keynesian spending spree of the type 
that worked so brilliantly in the 1930s, and pledges that it will 
reduce taxes for 95 percent of Americans, while only increasing them 
for some other guy. Many fear that the coming years will put the test 
to Alexis de Tocqueville's warning that ``the American Republic will 
endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their 
own money.''
  Meanwhile, since September of this year, the United States has 
experienced a severe financial crisis, precipitated by the collapse of 
banks that have been overwhelmed by the weight of unsound mortgages 
that they acquired. Many established and storied financial institutions 
have disappeared in bankruptcies and mergers during the last few 
months. As lending has tightened, unemployment has increased, and

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the Nation appears to be headed into a deep recession. And on November 
26, as if to remind us that the other problems confronting our nation 
have not receded, a group of Islamic terrorists attacked innocent 
civilians in the Indian city of Bombay, killing 171 people. Those 
attacks reminded many of us of the evil that this Nation faced on 
September 11, 2001, and of the long war that still lies ahead of us.
  And yet--and yet, things are not so bad. The United States is about 
to complete another peaceful democratic transition, and has just 
elected its first African-American President, giving hope to many that 
the Nation will yet overcome its racial divisions. The current credit 
crisis is not unlike ones that we have survived in the past, and our 
understanding of the financial system and how to fix it certainly is 
much deeper than it was in 1929. And, had you asked Americans 7 years 
ago, very few then would have dared to guess that the United States 
would not suffer any foreign terrorist attacks on its soil during these 
ensuing 7 years.
  The Republican Party, though currently unloved, will return to its 
roots and eventually regain the confidence of the American people. And 
though Republicans will be out of power in the political branches, the 
current President, with a little help from his friends, has made two 
very fine appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court, restoring a semblance 
of the rule of law to that branch of government for the first time in 
many years.
  The Republicans' loss of the Presidency may even have some salutary 
effects. Already, there are signs that with a Democrat coming to the 
White House, our Nation's liberal press may relent in its 8-year 
assault on the authority of the executive branch. On the day that 
Christopher was born, I and many others picked up the New York Times 
and nearly spilled our coffee when we came across a front-page article 
that was titled: ``Next President Will Face Test on Detainees--Some at 
Guantanamo Called Serious Risks.'' I will ask that a copy of this 
article be printed in the Record following my remarks.
  For at least 5 years now, anyone who relied on the New York Times as 
a source of information about the world was liable to come away with 
the impression that the men held by our military at the Guantanamo 
Naval Station are detained there purely out of spite or out of some 
other even less pure motive. News stories about Guantanamo have 
credited every accusation made by the detainees and their lawyers, no 
matter how implausible, but would treat with great skepticism any 
evidence that the Guantanamo detentions are necessary--that is, on the 
rare occasion when the papers could even be bothered to report such 
evidence.
  And yet just as a Democratic Presidential victory began to seem 
inevitable, the New York Times treats us to this article. We learn 
therein that many of the detainees have participated in terrorist 
attacks against Americans, are skilled in bombmaking and other 
terrorist arts, or have announced that they would like nothing better 
than to return to killing innocent people. For some of us, it is not 
news that the men detained at Guantanamo are dangerous. I would invite 
my colleagues to review the minority views that I and others submitted 
for Senate Report 110-90, or Justice Scalia's dissenting opinion in the 
Boumediene case. And on November 3, for the first time, such 
information is not news even to those who trust the New York Times.
  Public-relations victories like this one are important, for 
ultimately our enemies do not expect to defeat us on the battlefield. 
Rather, they seek to win by sowing fear, by demoralizing us, and by 
weakening our will to defend ourselves. Their particular brand of 
medieval barbarism will never sustain a civilization capable of 
defeating us in a conventional battle, but even a powerful nation such 
as ours must be willing to fight if it is to prevail against such an 
enemy.
  I know that Steven and Cara will instill in young Christopher, and 
his sister Laura, an appreciation and respect for our Nation, its 
unique institutions, and its open and democratic culture. It is just 
such people, who understand this country and its virtues, who 
ultimately will ensure that the American way of life continues and even 
thrives. And it is thus with hope for the future that I welcome young 
Christopher James Duffield to this world.
  I ask unanimous consent that the following news article be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the New York Times, Nov. 3, 2008]

               Next President Will Face Test On Detainees


                Some at Guantanamo Called Serious Risks

               (By William Glaberson and Margot Williams)

       They were called the Dirty 30--bodyguards tor Osama bin 
     Laden captured early in the Afghanistan war--and many of them 
     are still being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Others still at 
     the much-criticized detention camp there include prisoners 
     who the government says were trained in assassination and the 
     use of poisons and disguises.
       One detainee is said to have been schooled in making 
     detonators out of Sega game cartridges. A Yemeni who has 
     received little public attention was originally selected by 
     Mr. bin Laden as a potential Sept. 11 hijacker, intelligence 
     officials say.
       As the Bush administration enters its final months with no 
     apparent plan to close the Guantanamo Bay camp, an extensive 
     review of the government's military tribunal files suggests 
     that dozens of the roughly 255 prisoners remaining in 
     detention are said by military and intelligence agencies to 
     have been captured with important terrorism suspects, to have 
     connections to top Al Qaeda leaders or to have other serious 
     terrorism credentials.
       Senators John McCain and Barack Obama have said they would 
     close the detention camp, but the review of the government's 
     public files underscores the challenges of fulfilling that 
     promise. The next president will have to contend with 
     sobering intelligence claims against many of the remaining 
     detainees.
       ``It would be very difficult for a new president to come in 
     and say, `I don't believe what the C.I.A. is saying about 
     these guys,'' said Daniel Marcus, a Democrat who was general 
     counsel of the 9/11 Commission and held senior positions in 
     the Carter and Clinton administrations.
       The strength of the evidence is difficult to assess, 
     because the government has kept much of it secret and because 
     of questions about whether some was gathered through torture.
       When the administration has had to defend its accusations 
     in court, government lawyers in several cases have retreated 
     from the most serious claims. As a result, critics have 
     raised doubts about the danger of Guantanamo's prisoners 
     beyond a handful of the camp's most notorious detainees.
       But as a new administration begins to sort through the 
     government's dossiers on the men, the analysis shows, 
     officials are likely to face tough choices in deciding how 
     many of Guantanamo's hard cases should be sent home, how many 
     should be charged and what to do with the rest.
       The Pentagon has declined to provide a list of the 
     detainees now being held or even to specify how many there 
     are beyond offering a figure of ``about 255.'' But by 
     reviewing thousands of pages of government documents released 
     in recent years, as well as court records and news media 
     reports from around the world, The New York Times was able to 
     compile its own list and construct a picture of the 
     population still held at Guantanamo. Much of the analysis is 
     based on records of hearings at Guantanamo about individual 
     detainees, which have been made public since 2006 as a result 
     of an Associated Press law suit. The Times has posted those 
     documents on its Web site arranged by detainee name.
       The analysis shows that about 34 of the remaining detainees 
     were seized in raids in Pakistan that netted three men the 
     government calls major Qaeda operatives: Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi 
     bin al-Shibh and Al Hajj Abdu Ali Shargawi. Sixteen detainees 
     are accused of some of the most significant terrorist attacks 
     in the last decade, including the 1998 American embassy 
     bombings, the 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen, and 
     the Sept. 11 attacks. Twenty others were called Mr. bin 
     Laden's bodyguards.
       The analysis also shows that 13 of the original 23 
     detainees who arrived at Guantanamo on Jan. 11, 2002, remain 
     there nearly seven years later. Of the approximately 255 men 
     now being held, more than 60 have been cleared for release or 
     transfer, according to the Pentagon, but remain at Guantanamo 
     because of difficulties negotiating transfer agreements 
     between the United States and other countries.
       Two of those still held, government documents show, were 
     seen by Mr. bin Laden as potential Sept. 11 hijackers. The 
     case of Mohammed al-Qahtani, whom the government has labeled 
     a potential ``20th hijacker,'' has drawn wide notice because 
     he was subjected to interrogation tactics that included sleep 
     deprivation, isolation and being put on a leash and forced to 
     perform dog tricks.
       The other detainee deemed a potential hijacker, whose 
     presence at Guantanamo has gone virtually unmentioned in 
     public reports, is a Yemeni called Abu Bara. The 9/11 
     Commission said he studied flights and airport security and 
     participated in an important planning meeting for the 2001 
     attack in Malaysia in January 2000.

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       The Guantanamo list also includes two Saudi brothers, 
     Hassan and Walid bin Attash. The government describes them as 
     something like Qaeda royalty. Military officials said during 
     Guantanamo hearings that their father, imprisoned in Saudi 
     Arabia, was a ``close contact of Osama bin Laden'' and that 
     his sons were committed jihadists.
       Walid bin Attash is facing a possible death sentence as a 
     coordinator of the Sept. 11 attacks. Hassan bin Attash was 
     alleged to have been involved in planning attacks on American 
     oil tankers and Navy ships.
       Hassan bin Attash's lawyer, David H. Remes, said the 
     government's claims about the detainees were not credible. He 
     and other detainees' lawyers say that the government's 
     accusations have been ever-changing and that much of the 
     evidence was obtained using techniques he and others have 
     described as torture. ``You look at all of this stuff, and it 
     looks terribly scary,'' Mr. Remes said. ``But how do we know 
     any of it is true?''
       The extensive use of secret evidence and information 
     derived from aggressive interrogations has led critics around 
     the world to conclude that many detainees were wrongly held. 
     Nearly seven years after Guantanamo opened its metal gates, 
     only 18 of the current detainees are facing crimes charges.
       While both presidential candidates have said they would 
     close the detention center, they have not said in detail how 
     they would handle the remaining detainees.
       Mr. McCain has said he would move the Guantanamo detainees 
     to the United States but has indicated that he would try them 
     in the Pentagon's commission system established after 9/11. 
     After the conviction at Guantanamo, last summer of a former 
     driver for Mr. bin Laden, Mr. McCain said the verdict 
     ``demonstrated that military commissions can effectively 
     bring very dangerous terrorists to justice.''
       Mr. Obama has said that the Bush administration's system of 
     trying detainees ``has been an enormous failure'' and that 
     the existing American legal system--trials in either civilian 
     or military courts--was strong enough to handle the trials of 
     terrorism suspects.
       But in a speech on the Senate floor in 2006, Mr. Obama 
     suggested that the allegations against many of the detainees 
     needed to be taken seriously. ``Now the majority of the folks 
     in Guantanamo, I suspect, are there for a reason,'' he said. 
     ``There are a lot of dangerous people.''
       Some of the remaining prisoners have appeared determined to 
     show how dangerous they are. ``I admit to you it is my honor 
     to be an enemy of the United States,'' said a Yemeni 
     detainee, Abdul Rahman Ahmed, a hearing record shows. 
     Officials said Mr. Ahmed had been trained at a terrorist camp 
     ``how to dress and act at an airport'' and to resist 
     interrogation.
       A Saudi detainee, Muhammed Murdi Issa al Zahrani, was 
     described by Pentagon officials as a trained assassin who 
     helped plan the suicide-bomb killing of Ahmed Shah Massoud, 
     the Afghan rebel leader, on Sept. 9, 2001.
       ``The detainee said America is ruled by the Jews,'' an 
     officer said at a hearing after interviewing Mr. Zahrani, 
     ``therefore America and Israel are his enemies.''
       One man caught with Abu Zubaydah insisted on his innocence 
     but described a training camp outside Kabul, Afghanistan, 
     where, according to information he gave to interrogators, men 
     were given ``lessons on how to make poisons that could be 
     inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through the skin.''
       Mr. bin al Shibh was caught with a group of six Yemenis, 
     all of whom are still held, after a two-and-a-half-hour gun 
     battle. The records of those detainees include allegations 
     that some were ``a special terrorist team deployed to attack 
     targets in Karachi.'' One of the men, Hail Aziz Ahmad al 
     Maythal, was trained in the use of rocket-propelled grenade 
     launchers, machine guns and ``trench digging, disguise 
     techniques, escape methods, evasion and map reading,'' 
     according to the military's allegations.
       The records include many of the murky cases that typify the 
     image of Guantanamo, where detainees take issue with their 
     own supposed confessions and, sometimes, their identities. 
     And those doubts too are to be part of a new administration's 
     inheritance.
       ``I was forced to say all these things,'' an Algerian 
     detainee, Adil Hadi al Jazairi bin Hamlili, said at his 
     hearing when confronted with his confession to murder and 
     knowledge of a plot to sell uranium to Al Qaeda. ``I was 
     abused mentally and psychologically, by threatening to be 
     raped,'' he said, adding, ``You would say anything.''
       Abdul Hafiz, an Afghan accused of killing a Red Cross 
     worker at a Taliban roadblock in 2003, told a military 
     officer that he had the perfect alibi. ``The detainee states 
     again that he is not Abdul Hafiz,'' the officer reported to a 
     military tribunal.

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