House votes to allow suspected terrorist to stand trial in U.S.

By: Neil Middleton - Email

Posted: Thu 6:41 PM, Oct 15, 2009

The House voted today to allow suspected terrorist at Guantanamo Bay to be transferred to U.S. soil to stand trial. Congressman Rogers isued some blistering comments on the House floor. You can watch his speech here.

The House voted today to allow suspected terrorist at Guantanamo Bay to be transferred to U.S. soil to stand trial. The 307-114 vote is a partial victory for President Obama and his effort to close the controversial facility in Cuba.

Only 25 Democrats broke ranks and voted with Republicans opposing the transfer.

Earlier this month 5^th District Congressman Hal Rogers called the idea “insane”.

Today his remarks on the House floor were blistering. “Keep these detainees off sacred American soil.”

You can watch the Congressman’s entire speech below. It is divided into two parts.

Here are some other articles:

Homeland Security bill clears House

A $42.8 billion Homeland Security budget cleared the House Thursday after Democrats won a showdown vote preserving President Barack Obama’s authority to temporarily transfer Guantanamo prisoners into the United States for the purpose of prosecution.

Republicans had prevailed on the same issue when framed as part of a non-binding resolution two weeks ago. But Democrats have since dug in, their lines stiffened in what became a test of loyalty to the president’s stand on Guantanamo and their own ability to break the impasse over year-end appropriations bills.

Read more on The Hill

____

By ANDREW TAYLOR

Associated Press Writer

(AP) - House Democrats on Thursday repelled a

Republican effort to block transfer of the Guantanamo Bay detainees

to the U.S., handing President Barack Obama a partial victory in

his effort to close the prison.

Instead, by a 224-193 vote, the House stood by a Democratic plan

to allow suspected enemy combatants held at the controversial

facility in Cuba to be shipped to U.S. soil - but only to be

prosecuted for their suspected crimes.

The Guantanamo restrictions were attached by House-Senate

negotiators on a $42.8 billion homeland security appropriations

bill. The measure subsequently passed by a 307-114 vote. It next

goes to the Senate for a final vote that could come as early as

next week.

President Barack Obama has ordered the facility closed in

January but has yet to offer a plan to meet his deadline.

Democratic leaders had to push hard to win the vote because many

Democrats two weeks ago had cast a nonbinding but politically safe

vote against any Guantanamo detainee transfers. But several

Democrats from swing districts said they saw little political risk

on Thursday's vote.

"It's a nonissue. Inside the (Washington) Beltway stuff," said

first-term Rep. Dan Maffei, D-N.Y. "People care about jobs, the

economy, health care."

"I haven't had one person ask me about Guantanamo," said Rep.

Baron Hill, D-Ind. He added that he does "not in the least" fear

it as an issue in next year's elections.

Permitting Guantanamo prisoners to be transferred to U.S. soil

to stand trial had been a bipartisan compromise earlier. It mostly

tracks current restrictions put in place in June and is similar to

a version backed by Republicans earlier in the year. In fact, Rep.

Jerry Lewis of California, the ranking minority member of the

Appropriations panel, was among the Republicans who helped fashion

the compromise.

But without a plan from the administration for closing the

facility, Lewis has toughened his talk, calling the

administration's plan misguided and potentially dangerous.

"Terrorists should not be treated like common criminals in

federal court," Lewis said. "These detainees are enemies of the

state and should be treated as such by being held and brought to

justice right where they are - in Guantanamo Bay."

Democrats say that Republicans are simply seeking a political

opening.

"They are now objecting to provisions that they themselves

enthusiastically endorsed in the Appropriations Committee and on

the House floor," said Rep. David Price, D-N.C. "They seem to be

incapable of taking 'yes' for an answer."

Obama still faces many hurdles in fulfilling his promise to

close Guantanamo, several of which have been erected by his allies

in Congress. The homeland security bill requires the administration

to develop a plan before any further transfers. And Congress has

refused to give Obama any money required to close the facility.

Still, the public is mixed at best on the idea of closing

Guantanamo and transferring some of its prisoners to the U.S.

Respondents to an AP/Gfk poll in June found Americans evenly

divided on whether they support Obama's decision to close

Guantanamo. A Gallup poll taken around the same time - but with the

question worded differently - found that respondents opposed

closing Guantanamo by a 2-1 margin and rejected the idea of moving

detainees to their states by a 4-1 margin.

Several of the fiscal 2010 funding bills contain varying

restrictions on the transfer of Guantanamo detainees, reflecting

widespread opposition among voters. The Senate-passed defense

appropriations bill, for example, contains an outright ban on

releasing Guantanamo detainees into the U.S., including for trial

or incarceration.

The underlying spending bill also backs the Obama

administration's refusal to release new photos showing U.S.

personnel abusing detainees held overseas. The measure supports

Obama's decision to allow the defense secretary to bar the release

of detainee photos for three years.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit to obtain

unreleased photos of detainee abuse under the Freedom of

Information Act and won two rounds in federal court. The measure

would essentially trump the ACLU's case.

In response, the administration has appealed to the Supreme

Court and Obama has said he would use every available means to

block release of additional detainee abuse photos because they

could whip up anti-American sentiment overseas and endanger U.S.

troops. His powers include issuing an order to classify the photos,

thus blocking their release.

But the detainee photos provision earned a sharp rebuke from

Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., normally a leadership loyalist from

her perch as chairwoman of the powerful Rules Committee. She said

that "the people's right to know is more important than the

government's desire to keep things secret."

---

The bill is H.R. 2892.

On the Net:

Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov/

_____

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God Bless America!

Neil Middleton
WYMT Mountain News
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House votes to allow suspected terrorist to stand trial in U.S.

The House voted today to allow suspected terrorist at Guantanamo Bay to be transferred to U.S. soil to stand trial. Congressman Rogers isued some blistering comments on the House floor. You can watch his speech here.

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