[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 62 (Monday, April 27, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4732-S4733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             GUANTANAMO BAY

  Mr. JOHANNS. Mr. President, I rise to speak about the detainment 
facilities at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
  At the end of January of this year, the President signed an Executive 
order indicating his intention to close Guantanamo. Unfortunately, the 
Executive order was very short on detail. We do know the Justice 
Department is reviewing the cases of individual detainees. We know the 
President would like to move these detainees somewhere else. 
Unfortunately, 3 months after the release of the Executive order, that 
is about what we know today.
  If the President still plans to close Guantanamo Bay within a year, 
the clock is ticking, and we only have 9 months until the deadline laid 
out in the Executive order. Indeed, the President's supplemental 
request for Iraq and Afghanistan includes $80 million to close 
Guantanamo. We know that $30 million would go to the Justice Department 
to shut down the facilities, review detainee procedures, and to fund 
future litigation. The other $50 million would go to the Department of 
Defense, primarily to support the transfer of the detainees and the 
associated personnel. However, we do not know--and neither does anyone 
else within the administration or outside it--where the detainees would 
go. I am troubled by this insubstantial approach and what appears to be 
a haphazard approach. This is a matter vital for national security.
  Memories have dimmed and we forget the days surrounding September 11. 
We remember the day itself quite well--the shock in the morning--but we 
seem to forget the resolve that came after that. The resolve was born 
of our understanding that there was a global network of violent 
extremists with substantial international support dedicated to 
attacking the United States and its allies. Make no mistake about it, 
these terrorists are highly dangerous. By now, most Americans are 
probably familiar with the name Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. He is a 
Guantanamo resident. Before his capture in 2003 and later transfer to 
Guantanamo, he was one of al-Qaida's top agents and mastermind behind 
the September 11 attacks. I believe this man belongs in Guantanamo. 
With his contacts and his terrorist expertise, he would be a menace to 
the United States and its allies should he ever be set free.
  But he is only the operational face of this contagion. Also in 
custody at Guantanamo is Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, a lead operative in the 
September 11 plot. This terrorist could not obtain a U.S. visa to get 
into this country. That

[[Page S4733]]

made it impossible for him to participate in the attacks directly. He 
was forced to remain in Germany where he lived as a student. However, 
this did not stop him from acting as a primary communications liaison 
between the U.S.-based hijackers and the al-Qaida management in 
Afghanistan and in Pakistan.
  Shortly after the September 11 attacks, he arrived in Afghanistan 
where he was forced to flee when the Taliban fell. He was apprehended 
in 2002 and eventually transferred to Guantanamo.
  Terrorism runs in this family. His uncle is Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, 
mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. His cousin is presently incarcerated 
for his participation in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing event. He 
served as a travel and financial facilitator for the 9/11 terrorists 
and helped al-Qaida members escape from Afghanistan after the fall of 
the Taliban. From 2002 to 2003, this individual prepared al-Qaida 
members for travel to the United States and later plotted attacks 
against Western targets in Karachi.
  A different detainee at Guantanamo was involved in plotting to kill 
the Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia, as well as attacks on a series 
of Indonesian churches on Christmas Eve in the year 2000. Most 
famously, this terrorist helped plan the Bali bombings, in October of 
2002, which killed over 200 people, including several Americans.
  Another notorious face residing at Guantanamo was the head of al-
Qaida operations in the Arabian Peninsula. This terrorist saw combat 
within various insurgencies and later with the Taliban before being 
instructed by Osama bin Laden to focus on terrorism in Yemen. He 
followed bin Laden's orders. In 2000, he successfully coordinated the 
attack of the USS Cole in the Yemeni Port of Aden. That attack killed 
17 American sailors.
  The Cole attack is the most well-known event in this individual's 
long career of terrorism, but it doesn't stop there. He has a resume of 
attacks. He coordinated efforts to kill U.S. personnel in Saudi Arabia. 
He planned car bomb attacks and assaults on oil tankers. He was also 
involved with a plot to crash a plane into a Western naval vessel in 
the UAE.
  In 2002, however, he was captured and ultimately sent to Gitmo.
  These extremists are part of the al-Qaida A-Team of terrorists; and 
they have no business being released or transported to American soil.
  I describe these individuals today to put a face on this debate.
  The al-Qaida members detained in Guantanamo are the worst of the 
worst. They are unrepentant, they are unpredictable, and are still 
dangerous.
  So, if not Guantanamo, where should these unrepentant terrorists 
reside?
  One option would be for our international allies to help with their 
detainment.
  I know that the administration has been trying to persuade the 
Europeans to accept custody of some of the detainees. Attorney General 
Holder is in fact discussing this issue with European officials this 
week.
  On Wednesday, he will be making a speech in Berlin about Guantanamo, 
and I hope he has some good news. Unfortunately, there has not been 
much to date.
  When the President met with European leaders in early April, he also 
asked for help in resettling the detainee. They agreed to help--with 
one.
  We should perhaps count that as a victory, since many national 
leaders have said thanks but no thanks or remained completely 
noncommittal.
  For example, Austria's interior minister has rejected accepting 
detainees flat-out. I am not surprised. Despite all the international 
angst about Guantanamo, most nations recognize that these detainees are 
very dangerous to free people.
  Our time is not unlimited, since the administration's self-imposed 
January 2010 deadline for transferring these individuals is coming 
closer. In the absence of radically increased international 
cooperation, the administration will thus be forced to release the 
remaining detainees or keep them on U.S. soil.
  And those are possibilities that I, like many Nebraskans, am 
particularly concerned about. Two of the sites being considered are 
Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, and the United States Penitentiary Maximum 
Security facility in Colorado, known as ADX Florence. Both are far too 
close to Nebraska for comfort--both within 250 miles of my home State 
of Nebraska.
  This is likely a non-starter with my constituents, and for good 
reason. Thus, last week, I sent a letter to Attorney General Holder 
asking to be informed if any of the detainees were to be moved within 
400 miles of Nebraska.
  I will not allow my home State to be endangered by the proximity of 
unrepentant al-Qaida terrorists. Other Senators and their constituents 
are likely to have similar concerns.
  In 2007, the Senate rejected moving Gitmo detainees to U.S. soil. The 
Senate spoke loudly and clearly in an overwhelming 94-3 vote against 
moving Gitmo prisoners to our shores or releasing them into our 
society. I do not believe the sentiment in this body has changed today.
  The last option that I will mention--releasing them into the American 
population--seems unthinkable, if not absurd. However, if they are 
transferred into the American judicial system, their release is a 
possibility. This option is simply unacceptable.
  The $80 million requested by the administration to close Guantanamo, 
and the executive order signed to that effect, are troubling.
  In a dangerous world, facilities such as those at Guantanamo are a 
necessity that we cannot change simply by waiving a magic wand and 
wishing it so.
  With about 270 days left before its proposed closure date, it is 
clear the administration still has no plan for its demise.
  That is a gamble that the American people cannot afford.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________