[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 82 (Wednesday, June 3, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H6130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THE RELEASE OF UYGHUR DETAINEES FROM GUANTANAMO BAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, May 21, the President delivered a 
speech at the National Archives on the closing of the detention center 
at Guantanamo Bay and other national security matters, yet today we 
have no more additional information about his plans to close Guantanamo 
Bay than we did before. We still don't have any answers on which 
detainees he's planning to transfer to the United States, where they 
will be tried or how the administration intends to protect the American 
people. We still don't have any information on his plans to release 
into our communities trained Uyghur terrorists, and that is 
unacceptable.
  As I have said on numerous occasions, this issue isn't about closing 
Guantanamo Bay. My concern is that the order was given before a 
comprehensive plan was in place which sufficiently addressed national 
security concerns. I have sent three letters to Eric Holder since March 
asking specific questions about the disposition of the detainees. I 
still have not received a response.
  Last week, Military Families United, an organization representing 
America's Gold and Blue Star families, announced its opposition to the 
release of the Uyghurs. Rather than work with Congress, Eric Holder is 
preventing career officials with the FBI, CIA, the Department of 
Homeland Security and other agencies from briefing Members of Congress 
on plans to relocate detainees once Guantanamo Bay is closed.
  The Germans, who had tentatively agreed to accept the Uyghur 
detainees, have complained that the administration won't share enough 
information with them for an independent assessment of the detainees' 
security risk. According to The Washington Post, ``More trouble emerged 
when Washington stipulated that the Uyghurs would be barred from 
traveling to the United States.''
  What is Eric Holder hiding from the American people and our allies? 
The administration has a moral obligation to provide information to the 
American people on any detainee they plan to try or to release in the 
U.S.
  Last week, Newsweek magazine reported that the Attorney General 
planned to secretly fly the Uyghur detainees from Guantanamo Bay and 
release them in Northern Virginia--without telling the American people 
or telling the Congress. Those Uyghur detainees are part of the Eastern 
Turkistan Islamic Movement, led by Abdul Haq who sits on the governing 
council of al Qaeda. The Obama Treasury Department designated Haq as an 
al Qaeda leader last month; and yet Eric Holder says, Well, we're still 
going to release them. Regardless of whether or not they have vowed to 
attack Americans, a trained terrorist is a terrorist.
  Their release is particularly troubling given the recent New York 
Times article, indicating that one out of every seven low-security 
prisoners released from Guantanamo Bay were recaptured on foreign 
battlefields fighting American forces.

                              {time}  1715

  What does this say about the threat from the medium and high-security 
risk detainees still being held? What does it say when FBI Director 
Mueller tells Congress that he shares our concerns about transferring 
detainees to U.S. prisons? During a recent hearing, Director Mueller 
stated that detainees could support terrorism, even radicalize other 
inmates in high-security prisons, if sent to the United States.
  Other press reports indicate that officials within the Department of 
Homeland Security also opposed releasing detainees in the U.S.
  Aside from the Uyghur detainees, many other detainees at Guantanamo 
Bay who may be moved to the U.S. for trial are self-admitted members of 
terrorist groups that actively try to break out of prisons.
  Eric Holder would have you believe that detainees would be sent 
directly from Guantanamo Bay to a super maximum prison. In fact, 
detainees transferred for trial in civilian courts would have to be 
held in a facility near that venue and would only possibly be 
transferred to a super maximum prison if convicted. These are local 
jails similar to the lower-security Alexandria jail that held Zacharias 
Moussaoui during the 4 years he was on trial.
  Such a move could mean Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 
9/11 attacks and the man who brutally beheaded Wall Street Journal 
reporter Daniel Pearl, could be held in Alexandria for 6 or 7 years. 
Above all, I'm concerned that the presence of these high-profile 
detainees could possibly cause major problems for the communities.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, I believe that any trials or military 
commissions should be held on military bases far away from the civilian 
population centers. I would hope that Eric Holder is taking these 
concerns into account, but he has continued to deny Members of Congress 
access to this information.

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