Pelosi Statement on Obama Executive Orders on Closing Guantanamo and Revising Interrogation Policies
Pelosi Statement on Obama Executive Orders on Closing Guantanamo and Revising Interrogation Policies
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Contact:Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami, 202-226-7616
Washington, D.C. â€" Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today in response to President Obama’s executive orders to strengthen counterterrorism efforts by outlining a process for closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and revising detention and interrogation policies:
"President Obama’s executive orders closing the detention facility at Guantanamo, expanding the coverage of the interrogation practices permitted by the Army Field Manual, and initiating reviews of detention and interrogation policies will ensure that terrorist suspects held by the United States are treated in ways consistent with our laws and our values.
"The President’s deliberate and responsible approach will make the American people safer by improving the quality of intelligence, and begin to restore the standing of the United States in the eyes of the world. By addressing these difficult issues quickly and directly, President Obama has served notice that he understands the concerns of military and intelligence professionals that past practices had hurt, rather than advanced, international efforts to combat terrorism."