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Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this amendment, which has passed the House three times and which clarifies the authority of military commission judges to order court proceedings at Guantanamo Bay to be broadcast on the internet.

At its core, this amendment has a simple goal: transparency. By passing this amendment, we will show the American people that we believe they have the right to observe military commission proceedings, including those against the individuals who planned the 9/11 attacks.

We owe transparency to the loved ones and families of the victims. We should also provide transparency for journalists, academics, NGOs, and all concerned Americans who are understandably deeply interested in these vital proceedings.

Importantly, this bill does not require particular proceedings to be in open session--that will still be for the judges to decide. When they are open to the public, they should be accessible, so victims do not need to travel to Guantanamo to bear witness.

I will continue to work to permanently close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, but in the meantime, Congress must act to ensure transparency for the American people.

This bill is fully protective of classified information, I encourage all Members to support our amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, is there time remaining in opposition or should I close?
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Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the bill. Again, this bill does not require proceedings to be available online, but it does ensure that judges have that authority.

I think that this is something that the victims would like because the victims would like to be able to observe the proceedings without having to travel all the way to Guantanamo. In the interest of those victims, I would urge support for the passage of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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