McConnell Amendment: Americans Want Assurances
May 19, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday offered an amendment to the Supplemental which would require the administration to provide a threat assessment for every detainee held at Guantanamo Bay. The threat assessment would indicate the likelihood of recidivism, and would report on and evaluate any effort that Al Qaeda may make to recruit detainees once they are released from U.S. custody.
“Americans want the assurance that the President’s arbitrary deadline to close Guantanamo will not endanger our military service members overseas,” said McConnell. “The recidivism among released detainees is a major concern, and the McConnell amendment would require the administration certify that any detainee it wishes to release prior to submitting this report poses no risk.”
Many of the remaining 240 detainees are from countries with either no rehabilitation program, or programs which have proven unsuccessful. And the amendment would require the administration to certify that any detainee it plans to release prior to the threat assessment poses no threat U.S. military personnel stationed around the world.
The full text of Senator McConnell’s speech follows:
“I’d like to say just a few words about an amendment that I’ve introduced that relates to the President’s Executive Order of January 22 on the disposition of detainees at Guantanamo.
“As part of that executive order, a so-called Detainee Task Force was created for the purpose of reviewing the records of detainees to determine whether or not they should be released.
“It’s my view that any information obtained by this task force should be made readily available to the appropriate chairmen and ranking members of the committees of jurisdiction.
“So the amendment I’ve introduced establishes a reporting requirement that would require the administration to provide a threat assessment of every detainee held at Guantanamo.
“This threat assessment, which could be shared with Congress in a classified report, would indicate the likelihood of detainees returning to acts of terrorism. It would also report on and evaluate any effort that Al Qaeda may be making to recruit detainees once they are released from U.S. custody. “Many of the remaining 240 detainees at Guantanamo are from Yemen, which has no rehabilitation program to speak of, and Saudi Arabia, which has a rehab program, but which hasn’t been terribly successful at keeping released detainees from rejoining the fight even after rehabilitation.
“This recidivism among released detainees is of great concern to those of us who have oversight responsibilities here in Congress. So, according to my amendment, the President would have to report to Congress before releasing any of the detainees at Guantanamo. More specifically, the administration would have to certify that any detainee it wishes to release prior to submitting this report poses no risk to American military personnel stationed around the world.
“This is a simple amendment that reflects the concerns of Americans about the danger of releasing terrorists either here or in their home countries, where they could then return to the fight.
“Until now, the administration has offered vague assurances that it will not do anything to make Americans less safe. This amendment says that Americans expect more than that.
“Americans want the assurance that the President’s arbitrary deadline to close Guantanamo by next January will pose no risk to our military service members overseas.”
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