[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15218]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           THANKS TO BERMUDA

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, last Thursday Bermuda welcomed to freedom 
four men who had been wrongly detained at Guantanamo Bay for more than 
7 years. The men are ethnic Uighurs--a minority group from western 
China that has long suffered discrimination and oppression by China's 
Government. Their release is welcome news--our own Federal courts had 
cleared them for release, as did both the Bush and Obama 
administrations. Bermudian Prime Minister Dr. Ewart Brown and the 
Bermudian people have done a humanitarian service, and should be 
praised for it.
  I strongly support President Obama's decision to close Guantanamo, 
which became a rallying cry for al-Qaida and other terrorist groups 
seeking recruits. I am disappointed that the United States did not find 
a way to resettle the Uighurs here, as there are Uighur communities in 
several States that would have welcomed them and helped them become 
productive members of society. It would also have been an important 
gesture to other countries that we are asking to accept Guantanamo 
detainees. All the more reason that we should offer our sincere thanks 
to Bermuda for helping to put this sorry episode behind us.

                          ____________________