Washington, DC – The following is a statement released by U.S. Rep. Dave Camp (R-Midland) today regarding passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 by the House. Camp voted in favor of the measure.
“My standards for voting in favor of this bill were simple. The tribunals must bring the terrorists to justice; they must protect our men and women in uniform and our intelligence officers; and, they must ensure basic legal rights are afforded to these criminals. The Military Commissions Act meets all of these requirements.
“We have significantly disrupted the al Qaeda network. Most of the al Qaeda members responsible for the September 11 attacks, including the plot’s mastermind, Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, have been captured or killed. We also have killed other key al Qaeda members, such as Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the group’s operational commander in Iraq who led a campaign of terror that took the lives of countless American forces and innocent Iraqis.
“Despite this significant progress, our work is not yet done. There are terrorists in our custody and there are terrorists who remain at large, plotting and organizing additional strikes against us. Both will be brought to justice.
“While our armed forces and intelligence operatives continue to hunt down those terrorists who have eluded capture, this new system with which to try the terrorists, will finally give the victims of terrorism – and their families – a day in court. The commissions will ensure any terrorist captured alive will suffer their due sentence.”
###
