Senate Proceeding on Apr 30th, 2009 :: 1:12:05 to 1:21:30
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1:12:01 to 1:12:21( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: willing, able and encouraging they be there, in their midst. madam president, thank you and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: thank you. i appreciate what the senator from texas has been saying. this issue of what to do with

1:12:05 to 1:21:30( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Lindsey Graham

1:12:22 to 1:12:42( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: the guantanamo really is a central issue the nation and the overall war on terror because the president we keep saying that. i stand ready to be a partner. the best run probably right now is get mow bay. i've been there many times.

1:12:43 to 1:13:03( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: the men and women who are working in that prison follow e rules and it is a model military prison. it's tough duty. what they go through every day you probably don't realize and we can't tell you it all but it's tough duty. nip serving down there the country a great service. having said that i understand

1:13:04 to 1:13:25( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: the need to change the image of the country. i have been one of the republicans, military lawyer for 25 years, that understands the way we conduct this war determines whether or not we'll win it. the high ground in military operations is usually a physical location. when you are in you try to get the high ground because that's the best place to

1:13:26 to 1:13:47( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: fight the enemy from. in this war, the high ground is the moral high ground. it matters what we now, my goal for america is to be the best we can be. and our enemy,back yk and other groups -- al qaeda and other groups are some of the most barbaric people in the history of the world.

1:13:48 to 1:14:08( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: here is what it comes down to: when we capture of them it becomes about us. they will cut people's heads in the most abuse and humiliate people. they don't give trials. they are not reasoned. they're barbarians. the fact thate choose a

1:14:09 to 1:14:31( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: different way is not a weakness. it is a strength. trust me. if we are going to lead the world to a better way we need to show the world a better way. and there is a better way. in world war ii we had thousands, 350,000, i think, german and japanese housed in the united states.

1:14:32 to 1:14:54( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: nazis and committed japanese prisoners to our held them here under o value system, under the geneva convention, in communities all over america. and the nazis and the were a tough crowd. and when those prisoners were released, those that were released, they went back to their country with a view of

1:14:55 to 1:15:16( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: amer modern japan and germany. some of the people we're talking about at guantanamo bay are semiconductor to war crimes trials. so i'm urging the president to leave on the table the military commission option. we can reform it, but let's not criminalize this they're not accused of robbing a liquor store.

1:15:17 to 1:15:37( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: these are not under domestic criminal law, you can't hold someone forever without a but under the law of armed conflict, if you catch a member of the enemy force, you can keep them off the battlefield as long as they present a danger. that's been military law forever. i believe we would be better off

1:15:38 to 1:15:59( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: if we looked at the are members of al qaeda at guantanamo combatants, part of an unorganized milings, bent on our destruction and they are a part of the enemy force, not some common criminal and we can keep them off the battlefield as long as necessary, but we have to do

1:16:00 to 1:16:20( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: it within our value system. so i'm urging the president that if someone at guantanamo bay is subject to a war crimes trial, let's don't go to federal court like we did in the sheikh trial in the 1990's which was a disaster. let's put tribunal and give them justice through the military legal system, which i have been a part

1:16:21 to 1:16:42( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: of for 25 and i can tell america one thing: that the judges and lawyers and jurors that wear the uniform of the united states are the best among us. these are the administer justice in to our own troops. so it is a great place to conduct a trial because we can do things for national security in a military setting you can't do this federal court.

1:16:43 to 1:17:05( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: but i can assure you, justice will be rendered and people will be marshals we've had the -- and the court-martials, we've had at guantanamo barricks you've seen sentences that made sense. ist been in the military all of my adult life and the jurors take their responsibilities extremely seriously.

1:17:06 to 1:17:26( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: they hold the government burden of proof and the junls and lawyers are outstanding. there will be a group of people, madam president, that will not be subje to war crime trials because of the nature of the evidence, because of the unique relationship we may have between the evidence and an ally, that we're not going to subject that evidence to a beyond a

1:17:27 to 1:17:47( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: reasonable doubt standard but we know with certain, beyond a preponderance of the evidence that this person is a member of a terrorist organization and likely to do that inhe future. what i am arguing to the administrati them is that those people that we believe are too dangerous to

1:17:48 to 1:18:09( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: be let go, let's create a national security court made up of federal judges, somebody outside the military that would look over the military and see if the evidenc warrants an enemy com that way you would hav an independent judiciary stating that the person is a danger to th country, the

1:18:10 to 1:18:30( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: periodic review of that person's status so that they're not left in legal limbo. they'll have a chance every year to make their case anew, and you released more people from guantanamo bay than we have in detention. and we have put more people in guantanamo bay that were there

1:18:31 to 1:18:52( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: by mistake. one in 10 that we've let go as gone back to the fight. the number-two al qaeda operative in somalia was a detainee at guantanamo bay. we had a suicide bomber in iraq blow himself up that was at guantanamo bay. so we're going to make mistake, but i want a process that is limit those mistakes as much as possible.

1:18:53 to 1:19:13( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: so i'd like to end this with this: how we do this is important. we can close guantanamo bay and repair our image many but we have to have a process that's transparent and independent but recognizes that we're at war. that tes #us to the uighurs. there are a group of people in our custody that we caught in

1:19:14 to 1:19:35( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: afghanistan that are part of a separatist movement in china. they're muslims, traing in afghanistan to go back to china, to take on the chinese government. they have been determined to no longer be enemy combatants in terms of a threat from an al qaeda perspective. but what to do with the uighurs? one thing i would suggest is you

1:19:36 to 1:19:57( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: cannot change our laws prevent a known terrorist from being release in our country. these people have engaged in terrorist activity and their goal was to not to come here. but there are press reports of -- one of the uighurs was allowed to look at tv and saw a woman not properly destroyed the television.

1:19:58 to 1:20:18( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: we got to make sure that, one, we follow our own laws and the fact that they were going to go back to china doesn't mean they're safe to release here because they've been radicalized. so we've got to make some hard decisions as a nation. i stand ready with the president and my democratic colleagues to close guantanamo bay, but we do need a plan. we need a legal system we can be

1:20:19 to 1:20:39( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: proud of that will protect us and the final comment is the idea of releasing morpho tows showing detainee abuse is not in our national interest --ore photos showing detainee abuse is not in our national interest. it wil so i urge the administration to take that case all the way to thsupreme court, protect our troops in the field.

1:20:40 to 1:21:02( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: i understand the president's dilemma and challenge. harsh interrogation techniques have hurt this country more than they've helped. we can be a nation that abides by the geneva convention and rule of law. we've been that way for a long time. i agree with the president there. we need detainee policy that understands that the people we

1:21:03 to 1:21:23( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: are talking about are not run-of-the-mill criminals. they're committed terrorists and i don't the only way that label should stick underhe system i'm judiciary validates decision. that's the best we can do. so this decision we're going to make as a nation is important. i've tried to speak my mind and

1:21:24 to 1:21:32( Edit History Discussion )

Lindsey Graham: be balanced. and there is a way for us to work together to get this right. i look forward to working with the administration to make some