Military Commissions Act of 2006

MILITARY COMMISSIONS ACT OF 2006 -- (House of Representatives - September 29, 2006)

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding.

I rise to talk about briefly coddling terrorists.

There is no one in this body, no one in this country who wants to coddle terrorists. But let me remind my friends that Saddam Hussein was taken out of a hole and captured. And we did not torture him, and we have accorded him legal rights to hear the evidence, to address the court, and be represented by counsel. Why did we do that? Because we wanted to coddle Saddam Hussein? Did this administration want to coddle Saddam Hussein? Absolutely not. But because our values and the values of the international community suggested that.

And the ``Butcher of Belgrade,'' Milosevic, who murdered tens of thousands of people and ethnically cleansed 2 million people, we accorded him legal rights because we wanted to coddle him? No. Because that was our value system.

And, yes, even the butchers of Berlin, those who murdered millions of people in the Second World War, at Nuremburg were given their rights to see the evidence, to confront their accusers, and to have the proof adduced at trial. Why did we do that? Because we wanted to coddle the butchers of Berlin? Absolutely not. It was because those are our values, the values of the international community, and the values of our Founding Fathers.

Let us not rush to judgment in this instance. Let us recognize and honor our values. That does not mean that we coddle the murderer, the rapist, or the terrorist. It means that we want a civilized society in which to live in this country and, yes, around the world.

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