Mr. Thomas Pope
416 N. Stewart St.
North Liberty, IA 52317
Dear Thomas:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. I applaud President Obama’s recent executive orders, which suspended the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay and ordered the closure of the facility within a year.
I believe that closing this prison is a critical step in waging a smarter, more focused, and more effective fight against the terrorists who threaten us. This is the position of Secretary of Defense Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen, four former Secretaries of State, including Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, and James Baker, and countless others.
In the 110th Congress, I was the proud author of a bill to shut down the prison, S. 1469, the “Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility Closure Act of 2007.” With this legislation, I sought a practical approach to closing the Guantanamo Bay prison as expeditiously as possible.
The seven-year-old prison at Guantanamo is a stain on the honor of our country. By holding people at Guantanamo without charge, without judicial review, without appropriate legal counsel, and - in the past – subjecting many of them to what amounts to torture, we have not only forfeited the moral high ground, but we have damaged our international relationships and hindered our fight against the terrorists by giving our enemies a powerful recruiting tool.
I look forward to working with President Obama to close the facility at Guantanamo Bay in a way that protects our national security and ensures that those who have caused us harm are vigorously prosecuted, while we remain faithful to our ideals and values and uphold the rule of law.
Again, thanks for sharing your views with me. Please don't hesitate to let me know how you feel on any issue that concerns you.
Sincerely,
Tom Harkin
United States Senator
TH/amb
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