Letter to Eric Holder, Attorney General of the United States

Letter

Dear Attorney General Holder:

We write to express our opposition to your decision to transfer a Somali-based terrorist, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, to the United States for civilian trial.

As an unlawful combatant, Mr. Warsame wore no uniform and fought for no country. He is not an American citizen and was not captured on American soil. Mr. Warsame should have been detained outside the United States and, if necessary, tried by military commission.

Your decision to grant this terrorist full U.S. Constitutional rights and to try him in a civilian court on American soil reverses U.S. policy and legal precedent, and adds unnecessary costs and risks to local governments and populations.

Under your decision, Mr. Warsame will be prosecuted as a civilian with considerable expense and time diverted from U.S. criminal cases. His prosecution will trigger more Jihadist attention to the city and court where the prosecution will take place.

We urge you to reconsider your policy of bringing terrorists to the U.S. homeland for prosecution. We also ask that you provide the Congress with an estimate of the added expense to be incurred by federal and local police to protect the court involved.

Sincerely,

Senators Mark Kirk, Orrin Hatch, Roger Wicker, Mike Lee, Richard Lugar, Lindsey Graham, Olympia Snowe, Tom Coburn, Susan Collins, Mike Johanns, John Boozman, Dan Coats, James Risch, Chuck Grassley, John Thune, Johnny Isakson, David Vitter, Mike Enzi, Saxby Chambliss, John Hoeven, Kelly Ayotte, Ron Johnson, Scott Brown, John Cornyn, Roy Blunt, Mike Crapo, Pat Roberts, Richard Shelby, Thad Cochran, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Mitch McConnell, Jon Kyl, John McCain, Dean Heller, James Inhofe, John Barasso, Marco Rubio, Lisa Murkowski, Jeff Sessions, Jerry Moran, Richard Burr, Rob Portman, Joe Lieberman