OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019

Floor Speech

Date: June 13, 2018
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security Defense Foreign Affairs

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I want the same 30 seconds.

I implore you all to understand the difference between fighting a crime and a war. The Senator's amendment, as drafted, applies outside the United States.

Remember Anwar al-Awlaki, the American citizen who hid with al-Qaida in Yemen? We killed the guy. If we had captured him, the last thing I would have wanted him to hear is, ``You have a right to a lawyer,'' because he is now part of the enemy force.

The case law is very clear here. You had saboteurs from Germany marry up with American citizens in Long Island to commit sabotage in America. In re Quirin, the Court held that an American citizen who joins the enemy force can be an enemy combatant under law of war and tried by the military.

We have a case where a man was held at Charleston for 5 years--Mr. Padilla, who sided with al-Qaida. The court said it doesn't matter if you are captured in the United States. Your activity matters.

Here is what I want. I don't want to read these guys their Miranda rights because they are recruiting in our own backyard. American citizens are high on the list of al-Qaida and ISIS to use against us. When we capture them, I don't want to read them the Miranda rights.

We don't have to hold them indefinitely. If an American citizen is suspected to join the enemy, let's have a hearing about whether or not they have given up their citizenship. That way, we don't have to read them their Miranda rights and lose the ability to interrogate a person who has joined the enemy.

What you are doing is incentivizing ISIS and al-Qaida to find an American because they have protections other people would not have in their own backyard. It is insane to say America is not part of the battlefield. Ask people in New York if America is part of the battlefield. Ask people in the Pentagon if America is part of the battlefield. If you think America is not part of the battlefield, vote with him. If it is, table this amendment.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT


Source
arrow_upward