[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 17, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H2078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1240
                          CLOSE GUANTANAMO BAY

  (Mr. MORAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, about 12 years ago, 779 people were gathered 
initially and sent to the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. About 85 
percent of them had never actually engaged in direct combat against the 
United States. A report was issued by an independent, authoritative 
commission yesterday that I want to bring attention to. It was headed 
by Asa Hutchinson, a former Republican colleague of ours, and 4 star 
General Jim Jones, who was head of the National Security Council in the 
Obama administration.
  It concluded that the United States engaged in the practice of 
torture at Guantanamo Bay. It concluded that the methods we used, like 
waterboarding, slamming prisoners into walls, chaining them in stress 
positions for hours, violated international legal obligations with ``no 
firm or persuasive evidence that they produced valuable information 
that could not have been obtained by other means.'' It also concluded 
that what we did had ``no justification'' and ``damaged the standing of 
our Nation, reduced our capacity to convey moral censure when 
necessary, and potentially increased the danger to U.S. military 
personnel taken captive.''
  It concluded that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were 
directly involved in condoning such tactics and that their legal 
advisors engaged in ``acrobatic'' legal analysis to attempt to 
establish legal justification.
  There was no legal precedent. Guantanamo Bay should be closed--now.

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