[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 71 (Monday, May 11, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S5311]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             GUANTANAMO BAY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, for weeks, Republicans in Congress have 
been saying what Democrats are finally beginning to acknowledge: that 
the administration has no plan for closing Guantanamo and that closing 
this secure facility without a safe alternative is irresponsible, 
dangerous, and, frankly, unacceptable.
  Over the years, Guantanamo has housed some of the most hardened 
terrorists ever captured alive, and many of those who remain are the 
worst of the worst. Some have already killed innocent Americans, and 
many are outspoken about their desire to kill more Americans. These men 
are exactly where they belong: locked up in a safe and secure prison 
and isolated from the American people where they can do no harm.
  America has not been attacked at home since 9/11 because of the hard 
work of our Armed Forces, dedicated intelligence officials, the men and 
women at the Department of Homeland Security, and State and local law 
enforcement officials. But another reason we have not been attacked is 
because some of those most likely to do so are locked up down at 
Guantanamo. These inmates are not spectators. They are the enemy. They 
are the plotters, the planners, the funders, the ones who pull the 
trigger.
  The administration says our country would be safer if Guantanamo is 
closed and its inmates are transferred overseas or onto U.S. soil. If 
people knew who was down there, I think they would disagree.
  One of the men who is locked away safely at Guantanamo is Khalid 
Shaikh Mohammed, the man who actually organized the 9/11 attacks. We 
captured him while he was planning followup attacks to 9/11, including 
a plot to destroy a west coast skyscraper. If we had not captured 
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, he may very well have succeeded in carrying out 
the same kind of attack on the west coast that he carried out on the 
east coast. This is a man who boasts about using his ``blessed right 
hand'' to decapitate the American journalist Daniel Pearl. And he is 
unrepentant. Earlier this year, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed joined a number 
of detainees at Guantanamo in declaring themselves ``terrorists to the 
bone'' and proclaiming September 11, 2001, as a ``blessed'' day.
  Another inmate who still declares himself a ``terrorist to the bone'' 
is Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, who served as a key lieutenant for KSM on 
several plots against the United States and the United Kingdom, 
including the 9/11 attacks. During what he described as the ``blessed 
11 September operation,'' Ali transferred money to U.S.-based 
operatives and served as a sort of travel agent for some of the 
hijackers. This man is responsible for the deaths of thousands of 
Americans.
  Another terrorist at Guantanamo who is responsible for the deaths of 
Americans is Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who masterminded the attack on 
the USS Cole which killed 17 U.S. sailors in 2000. When he was 
arrested, Nashiri was planning new terrorist attacks, including a plot 
to crash an airplane into a Western naval vessel and a plan targeting a 
U.S. housing compound in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
  These are just three of the men locked up safely and securely on an 
island miles from the United States in a facility that even the 
administration acknowledges to be humane and well run. Americans want 
these men kept out of our neighborhoods and off the battlefield, and 
Guantanamo guarantees that. Closing this facility by an arbitrary 
deadline without an alternative is irresponsible and it is dangerous. 
It is unacceptable to the American people and unacceptable to an 
increasing number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
  The Attorney General has said that when it comes to Guantanamo, his 
chief concern is the safety of the American people. Yet, at the moment, 
the safest option is clearly the one we are exercising. If safety is 
our top concern, then the administration will rethink its arbitrary 
deadline for closing Guantanamo until it presents us with an equally 
safe alternative.

                          ____________________