The amendment was introduced a month ago and is expected to come to the floor today. The text of the amendment reads,
Purpose: To prohibit the use of funds for the prosecution in Article III courts of the United States of individuals involved in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. As a lawyer pointed out to us at the time the amendment was introduced, the amendment specifies that it should apply to anyone suspected, not charged, with planning and otherwise abetting the 9/11 attacks.
Graham has also gotten the support of some 170 family members of those killed in the 9/11 attacks. They have signed a letter stating that they "adamantly oppose prosecuting the 9/11 conspirators in Article III courts, which would provide them with the very rights that may make it possible for them to escape the justice which they so richly deserve." The letter goes on,
We support Senate Amendment 2669 (pursuant to H.R. 2847, the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Act of 2010), "prohibiting the use of funds for the prosecution in Article III courts of the United States of individuals involved in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks." We urge its passage by all those members of the United States Senate who stood on the senate floor eight years ago and declared that the perpetrators of these attacks would answer to the American people. The American people will not understand why those same senators now vote to allow our cherished federal courts to be manipulated and used as a stage by the "mastermind of 9/11" and his co-conspirators to condemn this nation and rally their fellow terrorists the world over. As one New York City police detective, who lost 60 fellow officers on 9/11, told members of the Department of Justice's Detainee Policy Task Force at a meeting last June, "You people are out of touch. You need to hear the locker room conversations of the people who patrol your streets and fight your wars."
You can read the full letter after the jump...
November 5, 2009
United States Senate
The U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C.
Dear Senators:
On September 11, 2001, the entire world watched as 19 men hijacked four commercial airliners, attacking passengers and killing crew members, and then turned the fully-fueled planes into missiles, flying them into the World Trade Center twin towers, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 3,000 of our fellow human beings died in two hours. The nation's commercial aviation system ground to a halt. Lower Manhattan was turned into a war zone, shutting down the New York Stock Exchange for days and causing tens of thousands of residents and workers to be displaced. In nine months, an estimated 50,000 rescue and recovery workers willingly exposed themselves to toxic conditions to dig out the ravaged remains of their fellow citizens buried in 1.8 million tons of twisted steel and concrete.
The American people were rightly outraged by this act of war. Whether the cause was retribution or simple recognition of our common humanity, the words "Never Forget" were invoked in tearful or angry rectitude, defiantly written in the dust of Ground Zero or humbly penned on makeshift memorials erected all across the land. The country was united in its determination that these acts should not go unmarked and unpunished.
Eight long years have passed since that dark and terrible day. Sadly, some have forgotten the promises we made to those whose lives were taken in such a cruel and vicious manner.
We have not forgotten. We are the husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers and other family members of the victims of these depraved and barbaric attacks, and we feel a profound obligation to ensure that justice is done on their behalf. It is incomprehensible to us that members of the United States Congress would propose that the same men who today refer to the murder of our loved ones as a "blessed day" and who targeted the United States Capitol for the same kind of destruction that was wrought in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, should be the beneficiaries of a social compact of which they are not a part, do not recognize, and which they seek to destroy: the United States Constitution.
We adamantly oppose prosecuting the 9/11 conspirators in Article III courts, which would provide them with the very rights that may make it possible for them to escape the justice which they so richly deserve. We believe that military commissions, which have a long and honorable history in this country dating back to the Revolutionary War, are the appropriate legal forum for the individuals who declared war on America. With utter disdain for all norms of decency and humanity, and in defiance of the laws of warfare accepted by all civilized nations, these individuals targeted tens of thousands of civilian non-combatants, brutally killing 3,000 men, women and children, injuring thousands more, and terrorizing millions.
We support Senate Amendment 2669 (pursuant to H.R. 2847, the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Act of 2010), "prohibiting the use of funds for the prosecution in Article III courts of the United States of individuals involved in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks." We urge its passage by all those members of the United States Senate who stood on the senate floor eight years ago and declared that the perpetrators of these attacks would answer to the American people. The American people will not understand why those same senators now vote to allow our cherished federal courts to be manipulated and used as a stage by the "mastermind of 9/11" and his co-conspirators to condemn this nation and rally their fellow terrorists the world over. As one New York City police detective, who lost 60 fellow officers on 9/11, told members of the Department of Justice's Detainee Policy Task Force at a meeting last June, "You people are out of touch. You need to hear the locker room conversations of the people who patrol your streets and fight your wars."
The President of the United States has stated that military commissions, promulgated by congressional legislation and recently reformed with even greater protections for defendants, are a legal and appropriate forum to try individuals captured pursuant the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force Act, passed by Congress in response to the attack on America. Nevertheless, on May 21, 2009, President Obama announced a new policy that Al-Qaeda terrorists should be tried in Article III courts "whenever feasible."
We strongly object to the President creating a two-tier system of justice for terrorists in which those responsible for the death of thousands on 9/11 will be treated as common criminals and afforded the kind of platinum due process accorded American citizens, yet members of Al Qaeda who aspire to kill Americans but who do not yet have blood on their hands, will be treated as war criminals. The President offers no explanation or justification for this contradiction, even as he readily acknowledges that the 9/11 conspirators, now designated "unprivileged enemy belligerents," are appropriately accused of war crimes. We believe that this two-tier system, in which war criminals receive more due process protections than would-be war criminals, will be mocked and rejected in the court of world opinion as an ill-conceived contrivance aimed, not at justice, but at the appearance moral authority.
The public has a right to know that prosecuting the 9/11 conspirators in federal courts will result in a plethora of legal and procedural problems that will severely limit or even jeopardize the successful prosecution of their cases. Ordinary criminal trials do not allow for the exigencies associated with combatants captured in war, in which evidence is not collected with CSI-type chain-of-custody standards. None of the 9/11 conspirators were given the Miranda warnings mandated in Article III courts. Prosecutors contend that the lengthy, self-incriminating tutorials Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others gave to CIA interrogators about 9/11 and other terrorist operations--called "pivotal for the war against Al-Qaeda" in a recently released, declassified 2005 CIA report--may be excluded in federal trials. Further, unlike military commissions, all of the 9/11 cases will be vulnerable in federal court to defense motions that their prosecutions violate the Speedy Trial Act. Indeed, the judge presiding in the case of Ahmed Ghailani, accused of participating in the 1998 bombing of the American Embassy in Kenya, killing 212 people, has asked for that issue to be briefed by the defense. Ghailani was indicted in 1998, captured in Pakistan in 2004, and held at Guantanamo Bay until 2009.
Additionally, federal rules risk that classified evidence protected in military commissions would be exposed in criminal trials, revealing intelligence sources and methods and compromising foreign partners, who will be unwilling to join with the United States in future secret or covert operations if doing so will risk exposure in the dangerous and hostile communities where they operate. This poses a clear and present danger to the public. The safety and security of the American people is the President's and Congress's highest duty.
Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal that "the challenges of terrorism trials are overwhelming." Mr. Mukasey, formerly a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, presided over the multi-defendant terrorism prosecution of Sheikh Omar Abel Rahman, the cell that attacked the World Trade Center in 1993 and conspired to attack other New York landmarks. In addition to the evidentiary problems cited above, he expressed concern about courthouse and jail facility security, the need for anonymous jurors to be escorted under armed guard, the enormous costs associated with the use of U.S. marshals necessarily deployed from other jurisdictions, and the danger to the community which, he says, will become a target for homegrown terrorist sympathizers or embedded Al Qaeda cells.
Finally, there is the sickening prospect of men like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed being brought to the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, or the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, just a few blocks away from the scene of carnage eight years ago, being given a Constitutionally mandated platform upon which he can mock his victims, exult in the suffering of their families, condemn the judge and his own lawyers, and rally his followers to continue jihad against the men and women of the U.S. military, fighting and dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan on behalf of us all.
There is no guarantee that Mr. Mohammed and his co-conspirators will plead guilty, as in the case of Zacarias Moussaoui, whose prosecution nevertheless took four years, and who is currently attempting to recant that plea. Their attorneys will be given wide latitude to mount a defense that turns the trial into a shameful circus aimed at vilifying agents of the CIA for alleged acts of "torture," casting the American government and our valiant military as a force of evil instead of a force for good in places of the Muslim world where Al Qaeda and the Taliban are waging a brutal war against them and the local populations. For the families of those who died on September 11, the most obscene aspect of giving Constitutional protections to those who planned the attacks with the intent of inflicting maximum terror on their victims in the last moments of their lives will be the opportunities this affords defense lawyers to cast their clients as victims.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-conspirators are asking to plead guilty, now, before a duly-constituted military commission. We respectfully ask members of Congress, why don't we let them?
Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Kenneth Paul Ambrose and Mrs. Sharon Ambrose
Parents of Dr. Paul W. Ambrose, 32, American Flt. 77, Pentagon
Margit Kastel-Arias
Wife of Adam P. Arias, 37, Eurobrokers, Two WTC, 84th Fl
Donald C. Arias, Lt Col, USAF (ret)
Brother of Adam P. Arias
Thomas V. Arias
Brother of Adam P. Arias
Andrew D. Arias
Brother of Adam P. Arias
Lorraine Beliveau
Sister of Adam P. Arias
Lauren Lucchini
Sister of Adam P. Arias
Karen A. Arias
Sister-in-law of Adam P. Arias
Nicholas C. Arias
Nephew of Adam P. Arias
Maureen Basnicki
Wife Ken Basnicki, 48, Canadian citizen, One WTC, 106 Fl.
Emily Schenkel
Goddaughter of Lorraine Bay, 58, Flight Attendant, United Flt. 93, Shanksville
Edwin Root
Cousin of Lorraine Bay
Margaret Beamer
Mother of Todd Beamer, 33, passenger, United Flt. 93, Shanksville
David Beamer
Father of Todd Beamer
Michele Beamer Sorensen
Sister of Todd Beamer
Bonnie Beamer
Aunt of Todd Beamer
Richard Young
Uncle of Todd Beamer
Alice Hoagland
Mother of Mark Bingham, 31, passenger, United Flt. 93, Shanksville
Herbert K. Hoglan
Grandfather of Mark Bingham
D. Linden Hoagland
Uncle of Mark Bingham
Lee N. Hoglan
Uncle of Mark Bingham
Vaughn V. Hoglan
Uncle of Mark Bingham
Candyce S. Hoglan
Aunt of Mark Bingham
Maureen Bosco
Mother of Richard E. Bosco, 34, Citibank, One WTC, 105, Fl.
William Bosco
Father of Richard E. Bosco
James Boyle
Father of Firefighter Michael Boyle, 37, Engine 33, WTC
Pat Waugh
Mother of Sandy W. Bradshaw,38, Flight Attendant, United Flt. 93, Shanksville
John Waugh
Father of Sandy W. Bradshaw
Tracy Peele
Sister of Sandy W. Bradshaw
Elizabeth M. Berry
Sister of Captain William F. Burke, Jr., 46, Engine 21, WTC
Christopher E. Burke
Brother of Captain William F. Burke, Jr.
Michael T. Burke
Brother of Captain William F. Burke, Jr.
James M. Burke
Brother of Captain William F. Burke, Jr.
Janet M. Roy
Sister of Captain William F. Burke, Jr.
Bradley Burlingame
Brother of Captain Charles F. Burlingame, III, 51, pilot, American Flt. 77, Pentagon
Diane McDavitt
Sister-in-law of Captain Charles F. Burlingame, III
Dr. Mark Burlingame
Brother of Captain Charles F. Burlingame, III
Anine Burlingame
Sister-in-law of Captain Charles F. Burlingame, III
Debra Burlingame
Sister of Captain Charles F. Burlingame, III
Robert Fraina
Brother-in-law of Captain Charles F. Burlingame, III
Beverly Burnett
Mother of Thomas E. Burnett, 38, Jr., passenger, United Flt. 93, Shanksville
Thomas E. Burnett, Sr.
Father of Thomas E. Burnett
Barbara Catuzzi
Mother of Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas, 38, passenger, United Flt. 93, Shanksville
Larry Catuzzi
Father of Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas
Dara Catuzzi Near
Sister of Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas
Jordan Cayne
Father of Jason David Cayne, Cantor Fitzgerald, 32, One WTC, 104 Fl.
Laura Brough
Daughter of Georgine Rose Corrigan, 55, passenger, United Fl. 93, Shanksville
Patricia Schiavo
Mother-in-law of Jack L. D'Ambrosi, Jr. Cantor Fitzgerald, One WTC, 103 Fl.
Dominic Schiavo
Father-in-law of Jack L. D'Ambrosi, Jr.
Leslie Dimmling
Wife of William J. Dimmling, 47, Marsh & McLennan, One WTC
Christopher O'Connor
Cousin of Commander Patrick Dunn, 39, United States Navy, Pentagon
Jeanne Evans
Sister of FDNY Firefighter Robert Evans, 36, Engine 33, WTC
Christina Evans-Serafin
Mother of FDNY Firefighter Robert Evans
Starling Seravin
Step-father of FDNY Firefighter Robert Evans
Anne Malave
Aunt of FDNY Firefighter Robert Evans
Diane Fairben
Mother of Keith G. Fairben, 24, Paramedic, NY Presbyterian Hospital, Two WTC
Ken Fairben
Father of Keith G. Fairben
Shirley A. Felt
Mother of Edward P. Felt, 41, passenger, United Flt. 93, Shanksville
Sandra V. Felt
Widow of Edward P. Felt
Gordon W. Felt
Brother of Edward P. Felt
Andrew Garcia
Son of Andrew T. Garcia, 62, passenger, United Flt. 93, Shanksville
Audrey M. Olive
Daughter of Andrew T. Garcia
Kelly Garcia Arrillaga
Daughter of Andrew T. Garcia
Claudette Greene
Wife of Donald F. Greene, 52, passenger, United Flt. 93, Shanksville
Bonnie Greene Le Var
Sister of Donald F. Greene
Debbie Rand
Cousin of Donald F. Greene
Kathleen Haberman
Mother of Andrea Lyn Haberman, 25, Carr Futures, One WTC, 92nd Fl.
Gordon Haberman
Father of Andrea Lyn Haberman
Julie A. Haberman
Sister of Andrea Lyn Haberman
Shirley Hemenway
Mother of ET1 Ronald J. Hemenway, 37, Chief, Naval Operations Office, Pentagon
Robert Hemenway
Father of ET1 Ronald J. Hemenway
Theresa Holland
Mother of Joseph E. Holland, III, 32, Carr Futures, One WTC, 92nd Fl.
Joseph F. Holland, Jr.
Father of Joseph F. Holland, III
Rose Lang
Mother of Rosanne P. Lang, 42, Cantor Fitzgerald, One WTC, 104th Fl., and
Grandmother of Brendan M. Lang, 30, Structuretone, Two WTC
William M. Lang
Father of Rosanne P. Lang, and
Grandfather of Brendan M. Lang
Donna M. Caballero
Sister of Rosanne P. Lang, and
Aunt of Brendan M. Lang
Matthew D. Lang
Brother of Rosanne P. Lang, and
Uncle of Brendan M. Lang
Katherine V. Lang
Sister-in-law of Rosanne P. Lang, and
Aunt of Brendan M. Lang
Al Caballero
Brother-in-law of Rosanne P. Lang, and
Uncle of Brendan M. Lang
Beth Ann Caballero
Niece of Rosanne P. Lang, and
Cousin of Brendan M. Lang
William Caballero
Nephew of Rosanne P. Lang, and
Cousin of Brendan M. Lang
Amanda Caballero
Niece of Rosanne P. Lang, and
Cousin of Brendan M. Lang
Joseph Caballero
Nephew of Rosanne P. Lang, and
Cousin of Brendan M. Lang
Lee Ielpi
Father of Firefighter Jonathan L. Ielpi, 29, Squad 288, WTC
Patty Sumner
Sister of FDNY Lieutenant Joseph G. Leavey, 45, Ladder 15, WTC
Tim Sumner
Brother-in-law of FDNY Joseph G. Leavey
Bobbie Low
Mother of Sara Elizabeth Low, 28, Flight Attendant, American Flt. 11, WTC
Mike Low
Father of Sara Elizabeth Low
Alyson Low
Sister of Sara Elizabeth Low
Edith Lutnick, Executive Director, The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund
Sister of Gary Frederick Lutnick, 36, Cantor Fitzgerald, One WTC, 104th Fl.
Carole O'Hare
Daughter of Hilda Marcin, 79, passenger, United Flt. 93, Shanksville
Michael McAvoy
Brother of FDNY Firefighter John K. McAvoy, 47, Ladder 3, WTC
Natalie McAvoy
Sister-in-law of Firefighter John K. McAvoy
Michael J. McAvoy
Nephew of FDNY Firefighter John K. McAvoy
Marlena Joy McAvoy
Niece of FDNY Firefighter John K. McAvoy
Joanne Lane Segal
Friend of FDNY Firefighter John K. McAvoy
Lori Montesion
Cousin of FDNY Firefighter John K. McAvoy
Holly Miller Hedley
Wife of Special Master Officer Craig J. Miller, 29, U.S. Secret Service, WTC
Vera Murphy Trayner
Wife of Patrick Sean Murphy, 36, Marsh & McClennan, One WTC, 97th Fl.
Lori Murphy
Mother of Patrick Sean Murphy
Thomas Murphy
Father of Patrick Sean Murphy
Gary Nelson
Father of Ann N. Nelson, 30, Cantor Fitzgerald, One WTC, 104th Fl
Mary Novotny and Bill Novotny
Parents of Brian Christopher Novotny, 33, Cantor Fitzgerald, One WTC, 104th Fl.
Bill and Lorraine Novotny
Brother and Sister-in-law of Brian Christopher Novotny
Michael and Eileen Novotny
Brother and Sister-in-law of Brian Christopher Novotny
Jeanne and Steve Lawler
Sister and Brother-in-law of Brian Christopher Novotny
Daniel and Stacey Novotny
Brother and Sister-in-law of Brian Christopher Novotny
Robert Novotny
Brother of Brian Christopher Novotny
Kevin and Kelli Novotny
Brother and Sister-in-law of Brian Christopher Novotny
Dorothy O'Berg
Mother of FDNY Firefighter Dennis P. O'Berg, 28, Ladder 105, WTC
Dennis E. O'Berg
Father of FDNY Firefighter Dennis P. O'Berg
Elizabeth O'Berg
Grandmother of FDNY Firefighter Dennis P. O'Berg
Patricia Ferguson
Sister of FDNY Firefighter Dennis P. O'Berg
Douglas Delguidice
Uncle of FDNY Firefighter Dennis P. O'Berg
Agnes Delguidice
Aunt of FDNY Firefighter Dennis P. O'Berg
Robert O'Berg
Uncle of FDNY Firefighter Dennis P. O'Berg
Carolyn Coyne
Aunt of FDNY Firefighter Dennis P. O'Berg
Thomas Coyne
Uncle of FDNY Firefighter Dennis P. O'Berg
Christian Coyne
Cousin of FDNY Firefighter Dennis P. O'Berg
Geraldine Davie
Mother of Amy O'Doherty, 26, Cantor Fitzgerald, One WTC, 104th Fl.
Maura O'Doherty
Sister of Amy O'Doherty
Dolores Owens
Mother of Peter J. Owens, Jr., 42, Cantor Fitzgerald, One WTC, 104th Fl.
Peter J. Owens, Sr.
Father of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Kevin Owens
Brother of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Terence Owens
Brother of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Thomas Owens
Brother of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
James Considine
Uncle of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Noreen Considene
Aunt of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Elizabeth Stanton
Cousin of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Thomas Stanton
Cousin of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Kristina Stanton
Cousin of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Jenna Stanton
Cousin of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Briana Stanton
Cousin of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Thomas Stanton, Jr.
Cousin of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Raymond Campbell
Cousin of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Kathy Campbell
Cousin of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Abiane Campbell
Cousin of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Kevin Welsh
Cousin of Peter J. Owens, Jr.
Ebit Fitzhenry Parks
Mother of Robert E. Parks, Jr., 47, Cantor Fitzgerald, One WTC, 105th Fl.
E. Betzy Parks
Sister of Robert E. Parks, Jr.
Lauren Parks
Sister of Robert E. Parks, Jr.
David L. Parks
Brother of Robert E. Parks, Jr.
Carol Parks Clancy
Sister of Robert E. Parks, Jr.
Pat Robert Clancy
Brother-in-law of Robert E. Parks, Jr.
Maureen Fitzhenry
Aunt of Robert E. Parks, Jr.
Jack Fitzhenry
Uncle of Robert E. Parks, Jr.
Brian Fitzhenry
Cousin of Robert E. Parks, Jr.
Jeff Fitzhenry
Cousin of Robert E. Parks, Jr.
Beth Fitzhenry Fylak
Cousin of Robert E. Parks, Jr.
D. Hamilton Peterson
Son of Donald A. Peterson, 66, and
Stepson of Jean H. Peterson, 55, passengers, United Flt. 93, Shanksville
Julia E. Peterson
Daughter-in-law of Donald A. Peterson, and
Jean H. Peterson
Firefighter Robert Reeg
Survivor, FDNY Engine 44, WTC
Brian Long
Son of Diane Simmons, 54, and George Simmons, 57, passengers, American Flt. 77, Pentagon
Melissa Price Long
Fiancee of FDNY Firefighter Brian E. Sweeney, 29, Rescue 1, Two WTC, and
Daughter-in-law of Diane and George Simmons
Freddy Helm
Brother of Diane Simmons and
Brother-in-law of George Simmons
Andrew Ficarella
Brother -in-law of Diane and George Simmons
Tricial Ficarella
Sister-in-law of Diane and George Simmons
Irene Johnson
Cousin of Diane Simmons
Marion Kminek
Mother of Mari-Rae Sopper, 35, passenger, American Flt. 77, Pentagon
Frank Kminek
Father of Mari-Rae Sopper
Shannon J. Spann
Wife of Johnny Micheal Spann, 32, Central Intelligence Agency, killed in action November 25, 2001, Qala-i-Jangi, Afghanistan
Johnny Spann
Father of CIA Agent Johnny Micheal Spann
Gail Spann
Mother of CIA Agent Johnny Micheal Spann
Alison Spann
Daughter of CIA Agent Johnny Micheal Spann
Emily Spann
Daughter of CIA Agent Johnny Micheal Spann
Tanya Spann Ingram
Sister of CIA Agent Johnny Micheal Spann
Tammy Spann Dunavant
Sister of CIA Agent Johnny Micheal Spann
Mary Ann Strada
Mother of Thomas S. Strada, 41, Cantor Fitzgerald, One WTC, 104th Fl.
Ernest Strada
Father of Thomas S. Strada
John Pasquale
Father-in-law of Andrew Stern, 40, Cantor Fitzgerald, One WTC, 104th Fl.
Florence Pasquale
Mother-in-law of Andrew Stern
Mary Ann Sweeney
Mother of FDNY Firefighter Brian E. Sweeney, 29, Rescue 1, Two WTC
Jan Vigiano
Mother of FDNY Firefighter John Vigiano, 36, Ladder 132, WTC, and
NYPD Detective Joseph Vigiano, 34, Emergency Service Unit 2,WTC
John T. Vigiano
Father of FDNY Firefighter John Vigiano, and
NYPD Detective Joseph Vigiano
Kevin Jacobs
Brother of Deborah Jacobs Welsh, Flight Attendant, 49, United Flt. 93, Shanksville
Mary Louise White
Mother of Honor Elizabeth Wainio, 27, passenger, United Flt. 93, Shanksville
