13 House Members Join Call on Bush Administration to Charge or Release Guantanamo Prisoners: Letter

13 HOUSE MEMBERS JOIN CALL ON BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO CHARGE OR RELEASE GUANTANAMO PRISONERS: LETTER

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The Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld
Secretary
Department of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1000

Dear Mr. Secretary:

As members of the House of Representatives, we write to express our strong agreement with the recent letter you received from Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Maria Cantwell expressing concern about the ongoing detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. We very much agree with our Senate colleagues that the continued, indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay is a grave mistake, and we join them in urging the Administration to take immediate action to determine the fate of these detainees.

We believe the continued, indefinite detention of these people is wholly inconsistent with our basic commitment to fair procedures for determining the guilt or innocence of individuals. We urge the Administration to expedite the processing of the detainees at Guantanamo, as we believe our current policy falls short of the respect for basic human rights embodied in our country's best tradition.

REP. BARNEY FRANK REP. THOMAS E. PETRI

REP. HOWARD L. BERMAN REP. DONALD M. PAYNE

REP. ROBERT C. SCOTT REP. WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT

REP. JULIA CARSON REP. BETTY McCOLLUM

REP. JERROLD NADLER REP. TAMMY BALDWIN

REP. JOSE E. SERRANO REP. MARK UDALL

REP. JOHN W. OLVER