Senate Proceeding on Mar 17th, 2009 :: 0:14:55 to 0:19:30
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0:14:53 to 0:15:14( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: of yemen. ability to control even the most dangerous terrorists we release. of guantanamo, about 15 have been cleared for tra another 15 may face trial in the u.s.

0:14:55 to 0:19:30( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Mitch McConnell

0:15:15 to 0:15:35( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: some may end up going to saudi arabia but the yes, ma'am eny government to protesting it the move. other inmates have shown up on the battlefield in places like pakistan and iraq. one former inmate traveled to syria after his release, snuck into iraq and plotte attacks against u.s. troops there. he eventually drove a truck

0:15:36 to 0:15:56( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: packed with explosives into a joint american and iraqi military training camp, blowing himself up and killing 13 iraqi soldiers. each one of these concerns is serious enough to warrant a reconsideration of the administration's decision to close the detention facility at guantanamo bay. taken together, it's hard to

0:15:57 to 0:16:17( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: imagine the administratios is not already having second thoughts of the alternatives that have been considered, some like the transfer of detainees to europe, may no longer be viable. but even if these inmates were sent to europe, one all-important question would remain: what then?

0:16:18 to 0:16:38( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: will they be released? with the resid sreufpl rate now hovering -- recidivism rate now hovering around 12%, this is a risk too dangerous to take, especially when it takes just one terrorist, just one, to inflict unimaginable horror. according to the european union's own rules, a detainee

0:16:39 to 0:16:59( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: who is released within a 25-nation area within the e.u. is free to move about in these countries without even a passport. a member of al qaeda who is sent to europe and subsequently released could easily reenter a transnational terrorist network, and the recidivism rate suggests

0:17:00 to 0:17:20( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: that is not at all unlik guantanamo itself, on the other hand, is proven to be a completely secure facility, and more than seven years of use not a single prisoner -- not one -- has escaped guantanamo to maim or kill a single innocent person.

0:17:21 to 0:17:42( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: let me repeat that. in the more that we've used guantanamo as a detention facility, not a single prisoner out of roughly 800 who have been housed there has escaped to maim or kill a single innocent person. no one has credibly argued that

0:17:43 to 0:18:03( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: the inmates are poorly treated. three meals a day, a full library of books, magazines, d.v.d.'s and medical care that is said to be excellent. indeed, one european official who visited in 2006 called guantanamo a model prison and better than the ones in belgium.

0:18:04 to 0:18:24( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: this is clear not abu ghraib. attorney general eric holder is in charge of the review of the detention facility at guantanamo bay. he captured the dilemma over guantanamo aer a recent trip there when he offered a glowing report on the fility. he saidhe the prisoners were being treated well, and then

0:18:25 to 0:18:45( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: reiterated the administration's intent to close it within the year. on some level, the attorney general must realize how illogical this seems. if he doesn't, then for the sake of the safety of the united states and its citizens, it is my hope that he realizes it before the end of the year. president obama was right and courageous to rethink an

0:18:46 to 0:19:10( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: artificial deadline on withdrawing u.s. troops from iraq. as we approach another artificial deadline, it is my hope that he rethinks this decision regardless of what he may think -- of what they may think in certain madam president, any shift on our policy on these detaies

0:19:11 to 0:19:32( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: must meet a very simple test. will it keep us safe, as guantanamo has, from the men like the ones whose names appear behind me? if the answer is no, then the policy we currently have is best. at the moment, the only safe option is to keep the inmates at guantanamo in one place, and