Detention Facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I come to the floor this evening to again make the case for why the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay should remain open and why Khalid Sheikh Mohammed--or any other hardened terrorist currently residing at Guantanamo Bay--should never be transferred to the United States to stand trial or for continued detention.

When a clear majority of the American people support keeping Gitmo open--as you can see from this chart to my left, Madam Speaker, this pie chart basically says, when you ask the American people what should happen to Guantanamo, fully 55 percent say keep it open. Only 32 percent are in favor of closing Guantanamo Bay detention facility, and 13 percent had no opinion.

Well, Madam Speaker, President Obama made closing Guantanamo Bay an immediate priority upon taking office, and he pledged to close the facility within his first year in office. It has indeed been troubling that the administration, in its push to close Guantanamo Bay to, so-called, ``improve'' our world standing, has succumbed to letting untruths dictate the popular story line about how the United States treats its detainees. Rather than expend the effort to correct what have become blatant fabrications, they continue to fight--even as recently as this week--congressional attempts to ban any transfer of detainees to the United States.

Put simply, Madam Speaker, Guantanamo Bay has been and remains the best option to detain terrorists that pose a threat to our national security at home and abroad. Let me be clear. Guantanamo Bay houses some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world, some of whom have succeeded in their plots to kill American citizens and soldiers. Yet, despite their record of plotting attacks on civilians, beheadings, and using innocent women and children as shields, our military personnel provide the detainees with a host of rights, privileges, and, yes, indeed, respect.

If the administration won't tell the full story about how we treat Guantanamo detainees, Madam Speaker, then I certainly will.

Among the rights and privileges extended include 24/7 medical service, comprised of things like annual dental checkups, eye exams, physical therapy, mental health services, and one medical staffer for every two detainees. Detainees are afforded anywhere from 4 to 20 hours of outdoor recreation daily; are allowed unmonitored legal communication, have access to more than 15,000 books, magazines, and DVDs in 18 different languages; and they are, indeed, allowed to observe their religious customs. Cultural and dietary needs are met. Each detainee receives up to 6,800 calories per day, with six menus from which to choose. No wonder the average weight gain, Madam Speaker, has been 15 to 20 pounds.

That's the reality of Guantanamo Bay. Having gone to these lengths, it is simply, to me, incomprehensible that we would spend hundreds of millions of dollars to transfer these detainees to our shores and make accommodations for them within our borders, especially with a $13.8 trillion national debt that's only growing.

Furthermore, Madam Speaker, terrorists who cannot be prosecuted should not be released. This is particularly true given that the recidivism data that was released just last week indicates that up to 25 percent of those released from Guantanamo Bay have reaffiliated with terror groups and rejoined the fight against us, continuing to kill Americans.

Madam Speaker, the American people know that the Gitmo detainees--which include terrorist trainees, terrorist financiers, bomb makers, Osama bin Laden's body guards, terrorist recruiters, and would-be suicide bombers--are not minor offenders by any means. Indeed, attempted attacks on our homeland in the skies over Detroit, in the streets of New York City, and in a courthouse square in Portland, Oregon, remind us that the battlefield is not limited to our efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Those that seek to do us harm should never be transferred to our soil or tried in our Federal court system, where they would essentially be provided the same protections under our Constitution as the very U.S. citizens they would love to kill.

Transferring terrorist detainees to the U.S. could eventually lead to their release--on American soil, Madam Speaker, putting our own citizens at risk. Indeed, any facility where they could be held--whether for trial or lifelong detention--could itself become a terrorist target.

Simply put, the American people believe that bringing Guantanamo Bay detainees to American soil--for any purpose--putsAmericans at risk and is a national security threat. The President and his Administration would be wise to listen to the voice of the American people, follow the lead of this Congress, and keep Guantanamo Bay open.

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