[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 18397-18398]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         CLOSING GUANTANAMO BAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Schiff) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, when it was first opened in the immediate 
aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the Guantanamo Bay prison may have 
seemed a reasonable stopgap measure as a shocked Nation marshaled its 
resources and figured out how to dispose of detainees taken in 
Afghanistan and elsewhere.
  But even in those early days, the problems we were creating with 
Guantanamo's patchwork of military rules and commissions were readily 
apparent. Since 2002, I have introduced numerous bills and amendments 
to try to bring Guantanamo into conformity with American and 
international law and to stop it from becoming a jihadi recruiting 
tool.
  But reform of this prison system has been elusive and progress 
towards bringing its detainees to justice almost nonexistent, as U.S. 
courts have taken strong issue with its improvised legal process.
  In one of his first acts as President, Barack Obama ordered the 
closing of Guantanamo, but the Congress almost immediately stepped in 
and erected a series of statutory barriers that have prevented the 
transfer of detainees to the United States and made transfer to third 
countries extremely difficult.
  Today, there is a renewed push by the administration to shutter 
Guantanamo for good. Doing so will not be easy, but the cost of keeping 
the prison open--to our values, to our pocketbook, to our reputation, 
and to our security--have become too great to bear.
  There are now 164 detainees at Guantanamo, 84 of whom have been 
cleared for transfer to their home country or another country willing 
to accept them. These detainees should be processed and transferred as 
soon as security considerations will allow.
  This would leave 80 remaining detainees, who are roughly split into 
two groups. The first group, which includes Khalid Sheikh Mohamed and 
other key 9/11 plotters, consists of detainees slated for trial under 
the military commissions that were established by the Bush 
administration.
  These proceedings have been mired in pre-trial wrangling; and the 
longer they drag on, the less legitimate the overall system appears. 
Meanwhile, our civilian judicial system, which many congressional 
critics have derided as not up to the task of handling terrorism cases, 
has disposed of a long line of defendants--from Richard Reid, the Shoe 
Bomber, to Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Underwear Bomber, and Faisal 
Shaizhad, the Times Square Bomber--all successfully prosecuted in 
America's civilian courts, and none will ever be released again.

                              {time}  1015

  By lifting its restriction on transferring these detainees to the 
United States for trial, Congress could give the administration the 
flexibility to transfer many of those now in the military commission 
system to Article III courts for prosecution. These civilian courts can 
be more expeditious, more effective, and, in the eyes of the world, 
more just than military tribunals.
  The remaining detainees--some 46 men--will be the most difficult 
cases. These are detainees considered too dangerous to release or 
transfer, but who cannot be prosecuted. For some, evidence cannot be 
presented without revealing critical sources of intelligence and 
methods. Others were tortured, or evidence against them was collected 
through torture or some other unlawful means. For still others, the 
evidence of past acts and future dangerousness, while not sufficient to 
prosecute, argues compellingly against any release or transfer.
  The administration announced over the summer that it would begin a 
review of these cases, and as a result, others may be cleared for 
transfer or prosecution. It is likely that many, if not most, of the 
detainees in this final category will remain in American custody. But 
where?
  Even if we ultimately decide to maintain these detainees in custody, 
that does not justify continued operation of Guantanamo Bay. Instead, 
they should be transferred to civilian or military confinement in the 
United States, an option currently blocked by Congress.
  Every day that it remains open, Guantanamo Bay damages the United 
States. Because there are other, better options for prosecution and 
detention

[[Page 18398]]

of these inmates, we are not safer for Guantanamo's existence. In fact, 
it makes us more vulnerable by drawing new generations to the jihad.
  The Congress, the administration, and the military can work together 
to find a solution that protects our people even as we maintain our 
principles and devotion to the rule of law. The President has indicated 
that he would like to work with Congress to end the Guantanamo era. We 
should take him up on that important challenge.

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