Guantanamo Bay

Floor Speech

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, for weeks, Republicans in Congress have been saying what Democrats are finally beginning to acknowledge: that the administration has no plan for closing Guantanamo and that closing this secure facility without a safe alternative is irresponsible, dangerous, and, frankly, unacceptable.

Over the years, Guantanamo has housed some of the most hardened terrorists ever captured alive, and many of those who remain are the worst of the worst. Some have already killed innocent Americans, and many are outspoken about their desire to kill more Americans. These men are exactly where they belong: locked up in a safe and secure prison and isolated from the American people where they can do no harm.

America has not been attacked at home since 9/11 because of the hard work of our Armed Forces, dedicated intelligence officials, the men and women at the Department of Homeland Security, and State and local law enforcement officials. But another reason we have not been attacked is because some of those most likely to do so are locked up down at Guantanamo. These inmates are not spectators. They are the enemy. They are the plotters, the planners, the funders, the ones who pull the trigger.

The administration says our country would be safer if Guantanamo is closed and its inmates are transferred overseas or onto U.S. soil. If people knew who was down there, I think they would disagree.

One of the men who is locked away safely at Guantanamo is Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the man who actually organized the 9/11 attacks. We captured him while he was planning followup attacks to 9/11, including a plot to destroy a west coast skyscraper. If we had not captured Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, he may very well have succeeded in carrying out the same kind of attack on the west coast that he carried out on the east coast. This is a man who boasts about using his ``blessed right hand'' to decapitate the American journalist Daniel Pearl. And he is unrepentant. Earlier this year, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed joined a number of detainees at Guantanamo in declaring themselves ``terrorists to the bone'' and proclaiming September 11, 2001, as a ``blessed'' day.

Another inmate who still declares himself a ``terrorist to the bone'' is Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, who served as a key lieutenant for KSM on several plots against the United States and the United Kingdom, including the 9/11 attacks. During what he described as the ``blessed 11 September operation,'' Ali transferred money to U.S.-based operatives and served as a sort of travel agent for some of the hijackers. This man is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans.

Another terrorist at Guantanamo who is responsible for the deaths of Americans is Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who masterminded the attack on the USS Cole which killed 17 U.S. sailors in 2000. When he was arrested, Nashiri was planning new terrorist attacks, including a plot to crash an airplane into a Western naval vessel and a plan targeting a U.S. housing compound in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

These are just three of the men locked up safely and securely on an island miles from the United States in a facility that even the administration acknowledges to be humane and well run. Americans want these men kept out of our neighborhoods and off the battlefield, and Guantanamo guarantees that. Closing this facility by an arbitrary deadline without an alternative is irresponsible and it is dangerous. It is unacceptable to the American people and unacceptable to an increasing number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

The Attorney General has said that when it comes to Guantanamo, his chief concern is the safety of the American people. Yet, at the moment, the safest option is clearly the one we are exercising. If safety is our top concern, then the administration will rethink its arbitrary deadline for closing Guantanamo until it presents us with an equally safe alternative.

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