[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 14273]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               GUANTANAMO

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, for the last month, the Republican leader 
from Kentucky has come to the floor and argued that we should not move 
detainees currently in Guantanamo into the United States, even for 
trial. Luckily, the President, the Attorney General, and the head of 
the joint military chiefs of staff have come to the conclusion that it 
is in the best interest of the safety and security of the United States 
that one of these notorious terrorists be brought to the United States 
for trial. So it has been announced today that Mr. Ahmed Khalfan 
Ghailani is being brought to the United States, to New York, for trial.
  Luckily, this administration is not following the advice and counsel 
of Senator McConnell and some on his side. It is time for this man to 
face trial. What is he being charged with? He is being charged as one 
of those involved in the 1998 embassy attacks in Africa. This Tanzanian 
national has been held in Cuba since September of 2006. He was captured 
by our forces, and others, in Pakistan in 2004 and transported to 
Guantanamo. He is being charged with his involvement in the 1998 
bombings of U.S. Embassies in east Africa, which killed 224 people, 
including 12 Americans.
  The position being taken by the Republicans in the Senate is that 
this man should not be brought to the United States for trial. I think 
they are wrong. I think it is time that he answered for the crimes 
being charged against him. Twelve Americans died as a result of what we 
believe was his conduct. He needs to be held accountable. This argument 
that he cannot be brought to the United States and tried would 
virtually allow this man to escape punishment for the crime that we 
believe he committed. The Republicans' position that he should not be 
brought to the United States because somehow, if he is being held in a 
prison in the United States, it is a danger to the rest of us cannot be 
supported in fact.
  There are 347 convicted terrorists presently being held in U.S. 
prisons--not one has escaped--in supermax facilities and no one has 
ever escaped. For the Republicans to argue we cannot bring this man to 
the United States for trial for killing a dozen Americans leaves him in 
a position where we may lose our ability to prosecute him. The speedy 
trial requirements of our Constitution and the laws of the United 
States could virtually end up with the United States being unable to 
prosecute this man if the Republican position on Guantanamo detainees 
is followed.
  GEN Colin Powell is right, Guantanamo needs to be closed. It is a 
recruiting tool for al-Qaida. We know these individuals can be brought 
to the United States and tried and safely imprisoned. We have never had 
an escape from a supermax facility. We know that to turn these 
prisoners over to some other country runs the risk that they will be 
released.
  Dangerous people who threaten the United States should be dealt with 
by our Constitution and laws. The administration has made the right 
decision that this man be brought to trial in the United States, held 
accountable for any wrongdoing on his part that led to the deaths of so 
many hundreds of innocent people at our Embassies in Africa.

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