National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, one of the most fundamental protections of our Constitution is that the government cannot imprison or punish people without due process or without being charged with a crime and a fair trial. Several years ago, Congress tried to undermine those most basic protections by saying the government could hold someone forever without so much as charging them with a crime under the powers granted to pursue Osama bin Laden in 2001.

The Lee amendment seeks to restore those fundamental protections for U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who are captured inside the United States. That is an important step forward, and I will vote for it. However, the Lee amendment still stops short of the protections guaranteed in our Bill of Rights.

The Fifth Amendment to our Constitution says that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The Sixth Amendment says the accused has a right to a speedy and fair trial. Neither of those is limited to just citizens and permanent residents. My amendment 2795 would restore these protections for all persons captured in the United States.

By restoring these protections, no terrorist suspect would be freed. The government would simply have to charge someone they believe to be a terrorist with a crime and put them on trial. I have no sympathy for terrorists and want to see them punished and locked away so they can cause no harm. I merely want the government to follow our most sacred charter, our Constitution, to do it just as we have for more than 225 years.

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Mr. PAUL. A few minutes ago on the Senate floor, 68 Senators voted to give a vote on the Senate floor on whether anyone captured and accused of a crime would get a trial by jury. It is in the Bill of Rights. Over two-thirds of the Senate voted for it-- enough to pass a constitutional amendment. We voted for it, and one person is denying a vote on this.

The senior Senator from South Carolina does not believe the Bill of Rights applies to people accused of a crime. Think about that. This is not about me. This is about one Senator from South Carolina who so much objects to the Bill of Rights that he doesn't want it to apply to people accused of a crime.

So, yes, I do most strenuously object.

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