Contact:
Marshall Wittmann
202-224-4041
WASHINGTON,
D.C. – Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) today issued the following
statement in response to the Supreme Court ruling granting terror suspects at
Guantanamo Bay the right to sue in federal court:
“Under
our system of separation of powers, the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of
whether a statute is Constitutional. I respect the Supreme Court’s
role, but I strongly disagree with its decision today. Enemies of the
United States committed to attacking America and killing Americans who have
been captured on the battlefield and designated alien enemy combatants are
entitled to the protections afforded by the Geneva Convention, not the
Constitution. The Supreme Court’s decision changes that and does so in
a way that will only increase the burdens and responsibilities placed on our
brave men and women in the military. The Supreme Court’s
decision fails, in a dramatic way, to appreciate that we are at war and that
our enemies are relentless in their pursuit of our destruction. Let us
not forget that at least 30 prisoners that have been released have already
returned to the battlefield.
“I
regret the outcome of the majority’s opinion and I hope that our country is
not rendered less safe as a result. To the extent there are
opportunities to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to change the
outcome of the Court’s decision, I promise to do so.”