Senate Proceeding on Nov 16th, 2009 :: 0:30:20 to 0:42:05
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0:30:16 to 0:30:37( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: see if we -- this will form a framework for that kind of disc i thank the president and yield the the presiding officer: the mr. cornyn: mr. president, i want to speak about the decision announced last f attorney general to bring khalid sheikh mohammed and other 9/11 conspirators to the united

0:30:20 to 0:42:05( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: John Cornyn

0:30:38 to 0:31:01( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: states from guantanamo bay to stand trial in the southern district of new york. this, of course, khalid sheikh mohammed is the self-described mastermind of the 9/11 tragedy where 3,000 americans were killed.

0:31:02 to 0:31:25( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: this is terrible, a terrible decision by the attorney general and by the administration for any number of reasons, but i would like to just explain why i believe that this decision should be reconsidered by the attorney general and the president of the united states because of the risk it puts americans to and because this

0:31:26 to 0:31:46( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: provides khalid sheikh muhammad, a selfdescribed super terrorist, this gives him everything he could have ever wanted, which is a platform to spew his hate-filled ideology and one in which he can recruit other like-minded individuals all around the world who watching. one of the things i am always

0:31:47 to 0:32:12( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: amazed by about our great country is how short our memory is, with you, of course, we are a -- but, of course, we are a nation at war after 9/11, but this is a war unlike any that this nation has ever fought before. we're at war with the ideology, with ruthless killers who wear no uniform and who use

0:32:15 to 0:32:36( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: civilians as a human shield. treating these war crimes like ordinary criminal ees vents and trying them in an article -- events and trying them in an article 3 court under the constitution is simply reverting to a pre-9/11 mentality. what do i mean by that? you'll recall, mr. president, that the 9/11 commission investigated the causes of what

0:32:37 to 0:32:57( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: happened on september 11, 2001. one of the things they identified was the wall separating the sharing of inte among the intelligence community and what information was developed during a criminal investigation and had to be kept separate from ordinary

0:32:58 to 0:33:20( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: intelligence collected by our military and our intelligence community. and one of the things that the 9/11 commission unanimously said is that we needed to tear down that walled and share information, as we can, consistent with the law, in order to protect the american people. and simply put, the trial of the

0:33:21 to 0:33:46( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: 9/11 coconspirators, not in a military commission at guantanamo bay but in a federal distr manhattan, one of the populous portions of our country, is simply forgetting the lessonse should have learned on 9/11, which the 9/11 commission so eloquently laid out for us and demonstrated.

0:33:48 to 0:34:10( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: but let's focus on who challenge lead sheh mohammed is. according to the report, "challenge lead sheikh mohammed describes a grandiose original plan, a total of ten aircraft to be hijacked, nine of which would crash into targets on both coasts. they included those eventually hit on september 11, plus c.i.a.

0:34:11 to 0:34:32( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: and f.b.i. headquarters, nuclear power plants and the tallest buildings in california and the state of washington." going fort report, "khalid sheikh mohammed was to land the tenth plane at a u.s. airport after killing all adult male passengers on board and alerting

0:34:33 to 0:34:53( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: the media, delivering a speech excoriating u.s. support for the philippines and repressive governments in the arab world." the 9/11 commission report concluded, "this is theater, a spectacle of destruction with k.s.m. -- khalid sheikh mow --

0:34:54 to 0:35:14( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: as the star, the superterrorist." this is who the attorney general announced we will be bringing from guantanamo bay to a court in manhattan to try as a common criminal. but he is anything but a common criminal. he is guilt than war crimes against innocent americans.

0:35:15 to 0:35:36( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: and according to this decision, the attorney general is going to be providing him the forum that he can use in order to proclaim himself as the superterrorist and in order to attract like-minded ideologues to his sick and twisted ideas of jihad. now, mr. president, the criminal

0:35:37 to 0:35:59( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: trial only gives khalid sheikh mohammed the platform he has sought for years, a platform to expound his hatred to his would-be followers around the world. the second reason this is a bad idea is that our civilian courts and procedures are ill-suited for terrorism trials because we

0:36:00 to 0:36:20( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: cannot put judges in charge of national security. now, mr. president, i have high regard for the men and women who serve on our judicial benches and the country. i myself was a judge for 13 years in texas. but our experience with terrorist trials show that civilian courts are an inappropriate -- courts are an inappropriate forum for the

0:36:21 to 0:36:41( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: trial of war crimes. this is one example of why: as a result of information related to the east africa embassy bombings, osama bin laden became aware of cell phone intercepts which organization to discontinue cell phone conversations because of the evidence disclosed in the trial.

0:36:42 to 0:37:03( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: they simply realized that they were be eavesdropped on and quit using cell phones, denying us that intelligence. during the trial of ramsey yousef, terrorists became aware of a communications link that provided enormously invaluable intelligence to u.s. officials

0:37:04 to 0:37:27( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: and this link, too, was shut down after the disclosure in that trial. then there was the trial of sheikh abdul wamon, a secret list of coconspirators in the prosecution that wound up in the hands of osama bin laden in sudan.

0:37:28 to 0:37:49( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: during the trial of zacarias moussaoui, the 20th hijacker, prosecutors inadvertently leaked sensitive material to defense counsel and here's what the judge had to say about that case, which he characterized as like a circus: he said "lawyers are talking about the continent tent contents of seemed hearings t sealed hearings to the media.

0:37:50 to 0:38:10( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: if i see any more of what i think are inappropriate leaks, i'm going to ask the f.b.i. to start an investigation. close quote. moussaoui's lawyers tied the courts up in knots so he could use the trial as a platform to air his anti-american tirades. the only reason the trial

0:38:11 to 0:38:31( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: ultimately ended was at the last minute moussaoui decided to plead guilty. that plea relieved the government of the choice between allowing a fishing expedition into its intelligence files or dismissing the charges altogether. one thing we could say with great confidence is that the trial of khalid sheikh mohammed

0:38:32 to 0:38:53( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: in a federal district court in manhattan will become the same kind of media circus times 10. it will give khalid sheikh mohammed a platte prm to inspire his fellow terrorists, prosecutors will be forced to reveal u.s. intelligence on mohammed, the methods and sources for acquiring that

0:38:54 to 0:39:16( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: information and his relationships with fellow al qaeda operatives around the world. that information al qaeda to develop more effective plot plots and to alert operatives whose coverage is blown. this will allow al qaeda to detect our means of intelligence gathering and to push forward into areas we know nothing

0:39:17 to 0:39:37( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: about. now, congress has made clear that u.s. civilian courts are not the appropriate venue to bring trysts to justice. that's why -- to bring terrorists t justice. that's why we passed the military commissions act. the mitary commissions were specifically designed to prevent sensitive disclosures and protect classified information

0:39:38 to 0:39:58( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: and sensitive sources and methods and of course we know from our work on these military commissions that they have a long history in our republic, dating back to the revolutionary war. to the civil war and to world war ii, and they are an appropriate forum for khalid sheikh mohammed and other terrorists. as a matter of fact, mr. president, the attorney

0:39:59 to 0:40:19( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: general made the balance offing decision to try some of the worst of the worst, a superterrorist like khalid sheikh mohammed in federal district court in manhattan, and to leave other terrorists for trial in guantanamo bay before military commissions. and i say, if guantanamo bay and military commiions are good

0:40:20 to 0:40:41( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: enough for these other terrorists, in the opinion of the attorney general, they ought to be good enough for terrorists like khalid sheikh mohammed and his fellow 9/11 coconspir tess. mohammed and other terrorists simply put should not be brought to the united states. they should not be granted the same rights and privileges as american criminal defendants.

0:40:42 to 0:41:03( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: they should stay at guantanamo bay a be military commissions established by congress under terms circumscribed by the united states supreme court. mr. president, i would just ask my colleagues to remember that on july 19, 2007, we had a vote on this sense of the senate resolution.

0:41:04 to 0:41:26( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: it is the sensef the senate that detainees housed at guantanamo bay, cuba, including senior members of al qaeda, should not be released into american society nor should they pay transfer -- they be transferred state sides into america's communities and neighborhoods. that sense of the senate resolution passed 94-3.

0:41:27 to 0:41:47( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: rarely do we see such unanimous bipartisan opposition to the very acts that the attorney general announced last friday and it's with good reasons, some of which i've had the opportunity to discuss today. but there are other reasons that i will look for opportunities to come back and talk to my colleagues about. i would ask the president of the

0:41:48 to 0:42:08( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: united states to overrule the decision of his attorney general because it is ill-advised. it will make america a more dangerous place, and it will allow terrorists like khalid sheikh mohammed, providehem the platform to spew their hateful ideology and encourage