S.Amdt. 84

1. Adds Sec. __. (a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings: wherever appropriate

   Adds a section

   Inserted: Sec. __. (a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings:

   Inserted: (1) United States officials reportedly took Suleiman Abu Ghayth into custody on February 28, 2013.

   Inserted: (2) Abu Ghayth is the son-in-law of Osama Bin Laden and a member of al Qaeda.

   Inserted: (3) From 2001 to 2002, Abu Ghayth allegedly served al Qaeda, urged others to swear allegiance to Bin Laden, spoke on behalf of and in support of al Qaeda's mission, warned that attacks similar to those of September 11, 2001, would continue, and actively supported al Qaeda's efforts to kill Americans.

   Inserted: (4) On or about May 2001, Abu Ghayth allegedly urged individuals at a guest house in Kandahar, Afghanistan, to swear an oath of allegiance to Bin Laden.

   Inserted: (5) Members and associates of al Qaeda have executed a number of terrorist attacks intended to kill Americans, including the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, which killed approximately 2,976 people.

   Inserted: (6) On the morning of September 12, 2001, Abu Ghayth appearing with Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, served as a spokesman for al Qaeda and warned the United States and its allies that "[a] great army is gathering against you" and called upon "the nation of Islam" to do battle against "the Jews, the Christians and the Americans".

   Inserted: (7) After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Abu Ghayth gave a speech in which he warned that "the storms shall not stop, especially the Airplanes Storm", and advised Muslims, children, and opponents of the United States "not to board any aircraft and not to live in high rises".

   Inserted: (8) In 2002, Abu Ghayth allegedly said "al Qaeda has the right to kill four million Americans, including one million children, displace double that figure, and injure and cripple hundreds and thousands".

   Inserted: (9) In 2002, Abu Ghayth reportedly arranged to be smuggled to Iran, where he was held under a loose form of house arrest for several years.

   Inserted: (10) Abu Ghayth has been reportedly tied to the October 8, 2002, attack on United States Marines training on Faylaka Island off the coast of Kuwait, which resulted in the death of one American.

   Inserted: (11) Kuwait reportedly stripped Abu Ghayth of his citizenship because of his role in recruiting Kuwaitis for al Qaeda.

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   Inserted: (12) Abu Ghayth is reportedly believed to have been in Iran since his release in 2010.

   Inserted: (13) On or about March 1, 2013, Abu Ghayth was brought to the United States to stand trial on terrorism charges in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

   Inserted: (14) On March 8, 2013, Abu Ghayth pled not guilty to terrorism charges.

   Inserted: (15) On September 14, 2001, in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States, Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40), which the President signed on September 18, 2001.

   Inserted: (16) The Authorization for Use of Military Force authorizes the President "to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons".

   Inserted: (17) Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 112-81) affirms the authority of the Armed Forces of the United States to detain covered persons pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force.

   Inserted: (18) Section 1022 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 establishes a requirement, subject to a case-by-case national security waiver by the President, for military custody of foreign members of al Qaeda and associated forces who participated in the course of planning or carrying out an attack or attempted attack against the United States and its coalition partners.

   Inserted: (19) Abu Ghayth is an enemy belligerent and meets the definition of a covered person under section 1022 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012.

   Inserted: (20) Military custody for enemy belligerents, consistent with United States and international law, provides the best means to collect the intelligence that can prevent future terrorist attacks and save American lives.

   Inserted: (21) Long-term law of war military detention affords the opportunity for interrogators to return periodically over subsequent months and years to gather additional information.

   Inserted: (22) It is this access to detainees in long-term law of war custody that allowed the intelligence community to gather information that helped ultimately locate Bin Laden.

   Inserted: (23) Members of al Qaeda, like Abu Ghayth, are not common criminals. They are enemy belligerents at war with our country. United States detention and interrogation policies must distinguish between intelligence collection to prevent terrorist attacks and standard criminal prosecutions.

   Inserted: (24) When the United States places enemy belligerents in courts under Article III of the Constitution for trial, grants them the legal rights normally reserved for common criminals, and focuses on prosecution rather than intelligence collection, the United States can miss valuable information that will help keep our country safe.

   Inserted: (25) Al Qaeda affiliates throughout the world, such as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and al Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb, present a complex and growing threat to the United States and its interests.

   Inserted: (26) United States forces continue to capture members of al Qaeda and associated forces.

   Inserted: (27) The United States has a top-rate facility at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that allows for the secure and humane detention and interrogation of foreign enemy belligerents.

   Inserted: (28) On January 22, 2009, President Obama issued an executive order to close the detention facility at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, yet Congress has prohibited the use of funds to transfer detainees at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to the United States or to construct or modify facilities in the United States to house detainees at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. Congress has also placed restrictions on the ability to transfer detainees at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to foreign countries.

   Inserted: (29) On February 15, 2011, the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, Michael Vickers, said "[t]he administration is in the final stages of. . .establishing its detention policy".

   Inserted: (30) On April 7, 2011, General Carter Ham, the Commander of the United States Africa Command responded to a question about what he would do if we captured a member of al Qaeda in Africa, by saying he would need "some lawyerly help on answering that one".

   Inserted: (31) On June 28, 2011, the Commander of the United States Special Operations Command, Admiral William McRaven, testified that his options to detain foreign enemy belligerents were to detain them temporarily on a ship, transfer them to a third country, or "if we can't do either one of those, then we'll release that individual and that becomes the--the unenviable option, but it is an option".

   Inserted: (32) On March 6, 2012, approximately a year later, when asked during a hearing of the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate whether the administration has developed a detention policy for enemy belligerents, Admiral McRaven testified "nothing has changed since then".

   Inserted: (33) Approximately 28 percent of detainees who have been released from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay have reengaged or are suspected of having reengaged in terrorist activity.

   Inserted: (34) Former detainees at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay have conducted suicide bombings, recruited radicals, and trained recruits to kill Americans and our allies.

   Inserted: (35) Said al Shihri and Abdul Zakir represent two examples of former detainees at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay who returned to the fight and assumed leadership positions in terrorist organizations dedicated to killing Americans and our allies.

   Inserted: (36) On November 29, 2012, in a 54 to 41 vote, the Senate agreed to Senate Amendment 3245 to S. 3254, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, which would have permanently prohibited use of funds for the transfer or release of detainees from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay into the United States.

   Inserted: (37) As enacted, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Public Law 112-239) prohibits for one year the use of Department of Defense funds to transfer or release detainees at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to or within the United States, its territories, or possessions.

   Inserted: (b) Sense of Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate to--

   Inserted: (1) reaffirm that the United States remains at war with al Qaeda and its associated forces;

   Inserted: (2) assert that when a member of al Qaeda or an associated force is taken into custody, the focus should be on intelligence collection and the prevention of future attacks and not on prosecution;

   Inserted: (3) believe by bringing members of al Qaeda and its associated forces into civilian custody, rather than military detention, the United States inappropriately gives these terrorists the rights afforded by the civilian system of justice in the United States, including speedy presentment and Miranda rights;

   Inserted: (4) believe no terrorists should ever hear "you have the right to remain silent";

   Inserted: (5) believe that Abu Ghayth and other members of al Qaeda or associated forces like him should be placed in military custody and brought to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay for long-term, interrogation, and, as appropriate, trial by military commission, consistent with chapter 47A of title 10, United States Code (as amended by the Military Commissions Act of 2009 (title XVIII of Public Law 111-84)); and

   Inserted: (6) call on the Obama Administration to work with Congress to establish a coherent detention policy for the long-term detention and interrogation of enemy belligerents, and the potential trial by military commission of foreign enemy belligerents, that will help collect intelligence, protect our country, and prevent future attacks.

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   Original wording

   At the appropriate place, insert the following:

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As printed