Advertisement

Sen. Brown, Others Push Tough Law On Guantanamo Detainees

Six senators, led by Republican John McCain of Arizona and including Scott Brown, say a tougher, more comprehensive military detention policy is necessary to fill the void created by two years of what they call the Obama administration's inconsistent approach.

Joining McCain were independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and four Republicans — Brown, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia.

The lawmakers proposed legislation Thursday that would keep open the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, impose restrictions on transferring detainees to foreign countries, and push for military commissions, not civilian trials, for detainees.

In their final Senate debate last year, Brown lambasted his Democratic opponent, state Attorney General Martha Coakley, for supporting civilian trials for accused terrorists.

"To think that we would give people who want to kill us constitutional rights and lawyer them up at our expense instead of treating them as enemy combatants to get as much information as we can, under legal means, it just makes no sense to me," Brown said.

President Obama announced Monday the resumption of military trials after a two-year halt. The administration reiterated its desire to close the military prison in Cuba.

With reporting from WBUR's Fred Thys and The Associated Press.

This program aired on March 10, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.

Advertisement

More from WBUR

Listen Live
Close