Senate Proceeding on Nov 5th, 2009 :: 6:52:30 to 7:00:55
Total video length: 11 hours 1 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Download OptionsEmbed Video

Views:27 Duration: 0:08:25 Discussion

Previous speech:

Next speech:

6:52:30 to 7:00:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Mitch McConnell

6:52:39 to 6:53:01( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the minority mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that under the quorumming dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: madam president, most americans recognize that our continued success in preventing another terrorist attack on u.s. soil depends on our ability as a

6:53:02 to 6:53:23( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: nation to remain vigilant and cleareyed about the nature of the threats we face at home and abroad. some threats come in the form o terrorist cells in distant countries. others come from people plotting attacks within our own borders. and still others can come from a failure to recognize the distinction between everyday crimes and war crimes.

6:53:24 to 6:53:44( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: this last category of threat is extremely serious but sometimes overlooked. and that's why senators graham, lieberman and mccain have offered an amendment to the commerce-justice-science appropriations reassure the american people that the senate hasn't taken its eye off the ball. the amendment is simple and

6:53:45 to 6:54:07( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: straightforward. it explicitly prohibi the terrorists who were involved in the september 11, 2001, attacks from appearing for trial in a civilian u.s. courtroom. instead, it would require the government to use military commissions -- that the courts proper for war -- for trying

6:54:08 to 6:54:30( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: these individuals. by requiring the government to use military commissions, the supporters of this amendment are reaffirming two things. first, that these men should have a fair trial and, sec we are we're reaffirming what american history has always showed: , namely, that war crimes and common crimes are to

6:54:31 to 6:54:52( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: be and that military courts are the proper forum for prosecuting terrorists. some might argue that terrorists like zac the 9/11 conspirators, aren't enemy combatants. that they are somehow on the same level as a convenience store stickup man.

6:54:53 to 6:55:13( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: but listen to the words of moussaoui himself. he actually disagrees with that. asked if he greeted his part in the september 11 attacks, he said -- quote -- "i just wish it would happen on 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, and the 17th and on and on." he

6:55:14 to 6:55:34( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: he was to learn of the death of american servicemen and women in the pentagon on 9/11 and then he mocked an officer for weeping about the loss of men under her command saying, "i think it was disgusting for a military person to pretend that they should not be killed as an act she is military. she shld expect that people who are at war with her will try

6:55:35 to 6:55:55( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: to kill her. i will never cry because an american bombed my camp." now, there's no question that moussaoui himself believes he's an enemy combatant engaged in a war against us. the senate has also made itself clear on congress creelted the military commission system -- congress

6:55:56 to 6:56:16( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: created the mitary commission system three years ago hon a bipartisan basis, precisely to deal with prosecutions of al qaeda terrorists with u.s. national security, with the expectation -- the full expectation -- that they be used for that purpose. the senate reaffirmed this view two years ago when it voted 94-3

6:56:17 to 6:56:38( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: against transferring detainees from guantanamo stateside, including the 9/11 we reaffirmed it earlier this year when we voted 90-6 against using any funds from the war supplemental to transfer any of the guantanamo detainees to the united states. and just this summer, the senate reaffirmed that military

6:56:39 to 6:57:01( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: commissions are the proper forum for bringing enemy combatants to justice when we approved without objection an amendment to that effect as part of the defense authorization bill. further, our past experience with terror trials in civilian courts hav clearly been shown to undermine our national security.

6:57:02 to 6:57:23( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: during the trial of ramsey uself, mastermind of the first trade center bombing, we saw how a small bit of testimony about a cell phone battery was enough to tip off terrorists at one of their key communication links had been compromised. we saw how the public prosecution of the blind sheikh, abdul rackman inadvertently

6:57:24 to 6:57:44( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: provided a rich source of intelligence to osama bin laden ahd of the 9/11 attacks. and in that case, we rember that rackman's lawyer was convicted of smuggling orders to his terrorist disiepless. we also saw how the trial of zacarias moussaoui resulted in the leak of sensitive information and we saw how the trials of the east african

6:57:45 to 6:58:08( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: embassy bombers compromised intelligence methods to the benefit of osama bin laden. now, the administration calls these prosecutions "successful." but given the loss of sensitive information that resulted, former federal judge and attorney general michael mukasey has noted -- quote -- "there are many words one might use to

6:58:09 to 6:58:31( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: describe how these events unfold. 'successfully' is not among them." trying terrorist suspects in civilian courts is also a giant headache for communities. just look at the experience of alexandria, virginia, during the moussaoui trial. as pointed out before, parts of alexandria became a virtual

6:58:32 to 6:58:52( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: encampment every time moussaoui was moved to the courthouse. those were the problems we saw in northern virginia when just one terrorist was tried in a civilian court. what will happen to alexandria, new york city, or other cities if several terrorists are tried there? you can imagine. it's because of dangers and difficulties like these are that

6:58:53 to 6:59:14( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: we established the military commissions in the first place. the administration has now rewritten the military commission procedures precisely to its liking. if we can't expect the very people who mastermind the 9/11 attacks and went to war with us to fall within the jurisdiction of these military courts, then who can we expect to fall within

6:59:15 to 6:59:35( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: the jurisdiction of these military courts? the american people have made themselv they don't want guantanamo terrorists brought to the u.s. and they the men who planned the 9/11 attacks on america to be tried in civil can courts. -- i

6:59:36 to 6:59:56( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: risking national security in the process. congress created military commissions for a reason. but if the administration fails to use military commissions for self-avowed combatants like khalid sheikh mohammed, then it is wasting this time honored and essential tool in the war on terror. i would ask the opponents of the

6:59:57 to 7:00:18( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: graham amendment the following: what material benefit -- what material benefit is derived by bringing avowed foreign wants like k.s.m., into a civilian court and giving them all the rights and privileges after united states citizen? and why should we further he

7:00:19 to 7:00:39( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: delay justice for the families of the victims of 9/11? this amendment, by senators graham, lieberman and mccain, give us all an opportunity to express ourselves one mr time on this vital -- one more time on this vital issue. the question is not whether we can pry terrorists in civilian court, the question is should we?

7:00:40 to 7:00:55( Edit History Discussion )

Mitch McConnell: the answer is perfectly clear. the right forum for bringing war criminals to justice is in military commissions at the secure facility we already have at guantanamo. not -- i repeat not in civilian