Guantanamo Bay Prisoners Eat Well

GUANTANAMO BAY PRISONERS EAT WELL -- (House of Representatives - June 22, 2005)

(Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, pancakes with syrup, whole wheat bagels, scrambled eggs. That is not what I had for breakfast this morning, but there is a good chance that the terrorist prisoners at Guantanamo Bay were eating this morning. And it is not something that prisoners held by the Nazis, the Soviets, Pol Pot, or any other despot would eat.

Yet some on the other side of the aisle have advocated closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay. The prison there has held 800 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists; 235 have already been released; 61 are awaiting release or transfer.

The information shared by these prisoners has saved countless lives here and around the world. We go to great lengths to ensure proper treatment of detainees. In addition to good meals, we take care to offer the freedom of worship freely, like supplying copies of the Koran and prayer rugs. Each person is treated according to the Geneva Convention, though none of these prisoners meets the qualifications of soldiers under that treaty.

The left is content to criticize and demagogue, but Gitmo is a part of the war on terror. And as long as it stands, the soldiers there will be treated properly. That is more than I can say for dozens of prisoners executed by al Qaeda in the past.

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