[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 22970-22971]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                GUANTANAMO BAY: STILL AN IMPORTANT ISSUE

  (Mr. MORAN of Virginia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, when President Obama and Senator 
McCain pledged to close our legal black hole known as Guantanamo Bay, 
they reaffirmed to the world that the United States is a Nation 
governed by the rule of law and defined by our embrace of universal 
human rights. Yet efforts to close this antithesis of the American 
justice system have stalled due to the administration's poor handling 
of the issue, not-in-my-backyard politics, and the difficulty in 
finding suitable locations for the 223 detainees remaining at 
Guantanamo. But the broader facts have not changed.
  It's in our national security interest to shut down Guantanamo, to 
close this ugly chapter in American foreign policy once and for all. By 
continuing to imprison people without charge, we

[[Page 22971]]

violate the most basic principle of American justice known as habeas 
corpus, we undermine our international reputation, and we fuel 
terrorist recruitment and anti-American sentiment.
  I hope our administration has learned from their early mistakes and 
will begin consulting with Congress on this issue. Keeping the 
legislative body in the dark on pertinent information related to the 
detainees and efforts to relocate them is a recipe for policy failure 
and risks the larger goal of keeping President Obama's promise to close 
this black hole of American injustice.

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