Senate Proceeding on Apr 27th, 2009 :: 3:09:30 to 3:18:30
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3:09:28 to 3:09:48( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: his unanimous include -- but not to interfere with the vote at mr. inhofe: i certainly amend it accordingly. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: again, i would say if anyone wants to come in and talk about this the vote that's coming up, i will yield to him. i just -- madam president, i seem to be involved in four missions right now and one of

3:09:30 to 3:18:30( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: James Inhofe

3:09:49 to 3:10:10( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: them happens to with the guantanamo bay defense facility. i have had occasion to be down at that faci 9/11 and then, of course, just the other day i was down again. ve looked at that, and there are some very serious problems that i think many members

3:10:11 to 3:10:31( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: this body are not aware of, and one is that when president obama gave his excellent was his inaugural speech, he recognized that we need to determine what we're going to do with those who are currently detained at guantanamo bay and those that may come into that

3:10:32 to 3:10:52( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: facility as result of the escalation of activity afghanistan before making a determination that it has to be closed. unfortunately, after -- two days after he made that speech, he stated it was g and the prison would be closed within a yr.

3:10:53 to 3:11:13( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: on february 2, i took a group down there, some senators who had never been to guantanamo bay. back is say, why are we considering giving up this facility? in fact, shortly after that i introduced legislation that would prevent any transfers of detainees from guantanamo to anywhere in the united states or

3:11:14 to 3:11:35( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: its territories. and the reason i did because while this has been used to detain some 800 al qaeda and taliban right now to about 525 of those have been tried and departed from gitmo for other countries.

3:11:36 to 3:11:56( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: now, today there are approximately 245 detainees left. this is the problem: these detainees,bout 170, near as we can determine, are very, very serious detainees such as khalid mohammed and others who were directly involved in the planning of 9/11.

3:11:57 to 3:12:17( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: many of these, the c will not accept them back. they can't be repatriated to any country. nobody wants so the choices are really limited. either to keep them at that facility or to figure out some way to put them into, as has been suggested, some facility in

3:12:18 to 3:12:38( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: the continental united states. they've talked about some 17 places that could detain these terrorists. the problem you have with that is these would become 17 magnets for terrorism in the united states. and i can't find one member of the united states senate -- not one -- who is willing to sl them -- any of these detained in his

3:12:39 to 3:13:02( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: her states. and i think this -- it's -- the reason -- i is this obsession people have to closing this facility? you know, it's kind of funny because it's one of the few good things thought out there the good deals that we have. we've had this facility since 1903.

3:13:03 to 3:13:23( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: amount of money, $4,000 a year, for this facility, and it has -- it is the state-of-the-art place in the united states to take care of this type let's keep in mind that we also have expeditionary legal complex located at gitmo. it is about the only place of its kind in the world where you

3:13:24 to 3:13:44( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: can try these cases. if you don't try them there, very likely they could find they are way into our justice system and of course i think we all understand that evidence are different than they are in that would

3:13:45 to 3:14:05( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: the different -- in our federal judiciary system. what we are looking at -- and i had madam president, to go to ft. sill in my state of oklahoma, which is one of that had been named as possible areas for detention of these individuals. sergeant major carter was there

3:14:06 to 3:14:28( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: the one running the she had been -- had occasion to be stationed for over a year at guantanamo, and she said, why in the world would we give up that facility to send them down here ft. sill? we don't have the compass toy keep them in

3:14:29 to 3:14:53( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: if i indications that they guantanamo. and secondly, the ratio is 1:2 in terms of health care facilities. these detainees -- there is one health care in most occasions there are doctors and nurses for each bay. we don't have anything like that at st. sill or leavenworth or any of the other places that

3:14:54 to 3:15:14( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: have been consequently, they have studied and found and determined that never has there been a case of abuse in the way of human rights abuses with the detainees. never a case of waterboarding. never a case of any kind of torturing. yet they are there and no one has been able to say what it is about -- they should be closed

3:15:15 to 3:15:38( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: down. what really troubles me most is the obama administration is more focused on closing down gitmo and protecting the rights of detainees than conducting a war on terror and protecting our country and its people from terrorists like those held currently at gitmo. it's interesting that attorney

3:15:39 to 3:15:59( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: general holder went down to look should do he came back with a glowing report. about the conditions. and the pentagon report stating that gitmo meets the highest international standards. the very highest standards. unfortunately, the obama administration seems bent on closing down gitmo and i guess

3:16:00 to 3:16:23( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: for political reasons yet i have not heard these political reasons, why it is that people are so obsessed with the idea of closing it down. i think it's time for the members of because as we look at the evidence that's there and the problems, we have to find a place to put the detainees that are there. and i say to my good friend from

3:16:24 to 3:16:47( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: vermont, it's not just the 245 detainees currently the ones who are going to b there as a now, people say there are two prisons in afghanistan. there's the problem with that is it's my understanding they will only accept detainees that are afghans so you have others that

3:16:48 to 3:17:09( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: are going to be -- from saudi arabia, from other areas -- there's no place else they can be put. so i think we have an opportunity there to have a place that is secure that has the highest standards and, again, the only alternative to

3:17:10 to 3:17:30( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: places where we have the detainees, where we have other places in the united states. in 2007 the senate passed a resolution by a vote of 94-3 and it stated "detainees housed at guantanamo shoul released into american society nor should they be transferred stateside into facilities in

3:17:31 to 3:17:53( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: american neighborhoods." that's not 94-3. i would suggest to you, madam president, that we'll have the opportunity to call on those 94 and certainly their constituents want to have them released, any of these detainees released and

3:17:54 to 3:18:15( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: housed in any areas other than gitmo. i think my state of oklahoma is not the only state where the state legislatures have passed resolutions saying we don't want any of the detainees housed in our states. so i think we'll have an taking place in one minute a

3:18:16 to 3:18:31( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: my opportunity in the next few days before any final action takes place in allowin both the h express a very strong position that they don't want to have