[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 79 (Thursday, May 21, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H5896-H5897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             GUANTANAMO BAY

  (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PENCE. On his second day in office, the President announced his 
plans to close Guantanamo Bay in an effort to improve America's image 
around the world. But Republicans went to the floor of this House and 
we went to the airwaves. We even went to the Internet at GOP.gov to 
inform the American people that Guantanamo Bay holds some of the most 
dangerous terrorists on the planet; men like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 
the mastermind behind the September 11th attacks, and Abu Zubaydah, a 
key facilitator of the 9/11 attacks.

[[Page H5897]]

  Because of the strong Republican leadership in the House and the 
Senate--even our Democratic colleagues in the last week joined us--
denying any and all funding for closing Guantanamo Bay in the war 
supplemental bill.
  But now we read that the President is renewing his effort to close 
Guantanamo Bay, despite a recent Pentagon report that nearly one out of 
every seven terrorist detainees previously released from Guantanamo Bay 
may have returned to their terrorist activity. Yesterday, the director 
of the FBI raised concerns about transferring these men to our local 
communities.
  Despite these warnings, the President continues to bow to world 
opinion. Let me say emphatically: Mr. President, public safety comes 
before public relations. The American people don't want to know how 
closing Guantanamo Bay will make us more popular; they want to know how 
closing Guantanamo Bay will make us safer.

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