Rick Santorum on Guantanamo Bay

South Carolina Debate

In May of 2011, Senator Santorum participated in the Republican Primary in South Carolina. He raises his hand when the group is asked if he would suppport a resumption of water-boarding and states that enhanced interrogation measures led to information that led to the killing of Osama bin laden..

CBS Foreign Policy Debate

In November of 2011, Herman Cain participated in the CBS foreign policy debate. He was asked about the Guantanamo Bay and states that he would keep the installation open.

Scott Pelley: Senator Santorum, you have one minute on the same question.

Rick Santorum: Oh, I would agree with-- with-- with-- with-- Herman Cain. The-- Gitmo is-- is essential to-- to leave open. We have to use enhanced interrogation techniques, all enhanced inger-- interrogation techniques. It has been proven to be successful in gathering information. It was critl-- critical for us-- in the-- in the war against terror. And we need to continue that-- that operation.

And using civilian courts-- is a-- is-- is one of the worst ideas I have ever heard. The-- civilian courts are given to people who have rights under our constitution. People who have attacked our country and are foreign combatants ha-- do not have those rights. Our country stands for freedom. Our country stands for all of those proper ideals.

But when-- and we-- and we stand with the Geneva Convention. But when people fight outside of those con-- there's a convention there for a reason. It's to get people to play by the rules. And when they don't play by the rules, they should not given-- be given the benefit of those that do. And that's why we have Gitmo and these techniques.

Voting Record

Military Commissions Act of 2006

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 established the authority to hold military tribunals for unlawful enemy combatants. It also defined that term and several others. The legislation was passed 65-34 in September of 2006. Rick Santorum voted in favor of the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

Removing Funds for Transfer

In April of 2005, the Senate voted on a measure to reduce by $36,000,000 the amount appropriated for "Military Construction, Army", with the amount of the reduction to be allocated to funds available under that heading for the Camp 6 Detention Facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The measure failed 27-71. Rick Santorum voted against reducing the spending for Guantanamo.

Sponsored and Cosponsored Legislation

This representative has not been identified as sponsoring or cosponsoring significant legislation related to this title.

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