[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 15719]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  MIRANDA RIGHTS FOR ENEMY COMBATANTS

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Justice Department has ordered 
Miranda rights to be read to terrorists captured on the battlefield. 
The administration is confusing constitutional rights of arrested 
criminal defendants in the United States with acts of war by terrorists 
against the United States in foreign lands.
  Miranda rights ordered to be given by the Supreme Court do not apply 
to a group of people who have a worldwide mission to murder in the name 
of religion who are captured by our military in Afghanistan.
  Never mind, sayeth the administration. Enemy war combatants must be 
told: ``You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to a 
lawyer. If you cannot afford a lawyer, we will provide one for you. And 
anything you say may be used against you.''
  This new policy is misguided. Never in history have captured war 
combatants overseas been treated with such an overflow of privileges. 
They have been dealt with by our military, especially regarding 
interrogations.
  But now I guess we are changing all that. But that ought not to be. I 
guess next we will have a whole battalion of lawyers going into the 
battlefield to tell our troops if and when they can shoot back. Have we 
gone a bit too far?
  And that's just the way it is.

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