[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 76 (Monday, May 18, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S5544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    GUANTANAMO AND THE SUPPLEMENTAL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, 2 years ago, our Nation was in the 
midst of a global battle against terrorism, and much of our time and 
energy in the Senate was devoted to that fight, from updating laws for 
monitoring terrorists overseas, to fighting an insurgency in Iraq, to 
combating the Taliban in Afghanistan.
  Two years later, we are still engaged in the same battle and in many 
of the same debates. On most of these issues, the Senate has had an 
opportunity to express itself very clearly. Yet rarely has it done so 
with as much unity as on the question of whether to send terrorists at 
Guantanamo to U.S. soil. On that important question, the vote was 94 to 
3 against.
  But something has changed. Now a number of Democrats who voted 
against sending detainees from Guantanamo to the United States are 
expressing a willingness to do so, in contradiction of their earlier 
vote. What has changed? America is still at war against terror networks 
around the world. The detainees held at Guantanamo are still some 
of the most dangerous terrorists alive. Indeed, over the past 2 years, 
the inmates there have been winnowed down to an even higher percentage 
of committed killers than were there before. Americans still do not 
want these men in their neighborhoods. They saw what the residents of 
Alexandria, VA, endured a few years ago when just one terrorist was 
held there, and they do not want armed agents patrolling their streets, 
ID checks, bomb-sniffing dogs, or millions of their tax dollars 
diverted to secure terrorists.

  When we voted on this question 2 years ago, the prospect of shipping 
terrorists to U.S. soil was not imminent, even though the previous 
administration had expressed a desire to close the facility at some 
point. The new administration, on the other hand, set an arbitrary date 
for closure before it even had a chance to review the intelligence and 
the evidence of the 240 men who are down at Guantanamo now.
  So I think it is perfectly appropriate, as we look to ensure the 
safety of the American people, to have another vote on this issue. 
Later this week, we will have an opportunity to do just that as the 
Senate takes up the supplemental war spending bill. The administration 
has requested funds within this bill to close Guantanamo, and Senators 
should take this opportunity to clarify their positions. So we will 
have a number of amendments this week on the supplemental that will 
allow the Senate to express itself once again on this most important 
issue.

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