Kyl Deeply Troubled By Today's Supreme Court Ruling

Statement

Kyl Deeply Troubled By Today's Supreme Court Ruling

U.S. Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl today made the following statement regarding the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to give constitutional rights to foreign terrorist suspects:

"I am deeply troubled by today's ruling by the Supreme Court and I concur with Chief Justice John Roberts who believes that the ruling strikes down a legislated system that affords more procedural rights to the al Qaeda detainees held at Guantanamo than any nation has ever provided to captured enemy soldiers in the history of armed combat.

"The Court's decision has the sweeping effect of allowing captured foreign terrorists to enter our local courts, and would allow civilian judges - many of whom have little to no background in terrorism or military affairs - to decide the fate of these terrorist suspects and ultimately our national security.

"The Court's ruling establishes a dangerous precedent for our country by conferring upon foreign terrorist combatants the very same rights as American citizens. These detainees have been held because they were captured during combat, and for that reason, should be processed in accordance with military procedure, not criminal law.

"I ask those who laud today's decision as a victory whether they would want Osama bin Laden, if captured, to be processed by our civilian judicial system?"

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