III 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 403 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab should 

be tried by a military tribunal rather than by a civilian court. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2010 

Mr. VITTER (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. BENNETT, Mr. 

CHAMBLISS, Mr. ENSIGN, and Mr. WICKER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that Umar Farouk 

Abdulmutallab should be tried by a military tribunal 

rather than by a civilian court. 

Whereas Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian citizen, attempted to blow up a transcontinental airliner, Northwest 

Airlines Flight 253, over Detroit, Michigan, on Christmas 

Day 2009; 

Whereas Abdulmutallab boarded Flight 253 in Amsterdam 

using an unrevoked United States visa after having traveled from Yemen, purchasing his ticket with cash, and 

checking no luggage; 

Whereas prior to the attack on Flight 253, Abdulmutallab’s 

father, a prominent Nigerian banker, warned officials at 


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•SRES 403 IS 

the United States Embassy in Nigeria that his son was 

being influenced by Islamic extremists in Yemen; 

Whereas United States intelligence officials learned, based on 

intercepted al Qaeda communications from Yemen in November 2009, that a man named ‘‘Umar Farouk’’ had 

volunteered for an upcoming terrorist attack and had 

been in contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, the same Yemenbased radical cleric who sent more than a dozen e-mail 

messages to the Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan; 

Whereas in November 2009, the National Security Agency 

also intercepted a phone conversation involving al Qaeda 

operatives in Yemen discussing an unnamed Nigerian 

man; 

Whereas in December 2009, intelligence officials learned that 

al Qaeda operatives in Yemen were looking for ‘‘ways to 

move people to the West’’ and specifically mentioning the 

Christmas Day date; 

Whereas the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had issued 

finished intelligence regarding Abdulmutallab by Christmas Day 2009, which both the CIA and the National 

Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) had access to, but did 

not disseminate more broadly within the intelligence community due to the absence of a photograph of 

Abdulmutallab, despite the fact that other counterterrorism groups already possessed such a photograph; 

Whereas the intelligence agencies for the United Kingdom revoked Abdulmutallab’s British visa because of a fraudulent visa application; 

Whereas after Abdulmutallab was apprehended by United 

States Customs agents and local police following his 

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ing training from members of al Qaeda in the Arabian 

Peninsula and stated that other jihadists would follow 

him; 

Whereas local agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

(FBI) interrogated Abdulmutallab for 50 minutes, during 

which time Abdulmutallab disclosed information concerning his training in Yemen and the operation of al 

Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula; 

Whereas after 50 minutes, the FBI stopped its interrogation 

of Abdulmutallab, agreeing to continue the interrogation 

after he received medical attention for the burns on his 

legs and groin caused by the failed bomb he had sewn in 

his underwear; 

Whereas before the FBI agents resumed the interrogation, 

Attorney General Eric Holder made the decision to extend the rights required under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 

U.S. 436 (1966) to Abdulmutallab and to treat him as 

a common criminal rather than a unprivileged enemy belligerent who would be subject to military law; 

Whereas the FBI agents, following the decision of Attorney 

General Holder, read Abdulmutallab his Miranda rights, 

including his right to a lawyer and his right to remain 

silent, at which point Abdulmutallab stopped divulging 

information and remained silent; 

Whereas information concerning Yemeni terror networks, terrorist training operations, and al Qaeda in the Arabian 

Peninsula are of the utmost value to the United States 

in its ongoing war against international terrorism; 

Whereas Attorney General Holder made the decision to extend Miranda rights to Abdulmutallab without consulting 

the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, the 


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Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, the 

NCTC Director, Michael Leiter, the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, or the FBI Director, Robert 

Mueller; 

Whereas Attorney General Holder did not consult the HighValue Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG), which, according to Director Blair, ‘‘was created exactly for th[e] 

purpose’’ of making ‘‘a decision on whether . . . a certain 

person who’s detained should be treated as . . . a case 

for federal prosecution’’; 

Whereas despite the fact that President Barack Obama created the HIG for the specific purpose of interrogating 

high-value detainees in order to obtain intelligence, the 

HIG was not yet operational by Christmas Day 2009; 

Whereas given the evidence against Abdulmutallab and the 

numerous witnesses onboard Flight 253 who saw him attempt to detonate an explosive device, it was not necessary to secure testimony admissible in civilian court by 

providing Miranda rights to Abdulmutallab; 

Whereas even if testimony that would be admissible in a civilian court was believed to be necessary, Abdulmutallab 

qualified for an exception to the requirements under Miranda that permits law enforcement officers to interrogate individuals with possible knowledge of an impending 

terrorist attack; 

Whereas despite the fact that the United States is at war 

with al Qaeda and deeply concerned about the operation 

of Islamic terrorist networks in the Arabian Peninsula 

and in Yemen, a country that continues to harbor the 

terrorists who attacked the U.S.S. Cole, Attorney General 

Holder, under the guidance of President Obama, subseVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:40 Feb 01, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR403.IS SR403

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quently ordered that Abdulmutallab be prosecuted on 

criminal charges in a United States civilian court rather 

than in a military tribunal; 

Whereas under the international law of armed conflict, the 

United States has the authority to detain enemies who 

have engaged in combatant actions until the end of hostilities; 

Whereas, on September 18, 2001, the Congress passed a 

Joint Resolution authorizing the use of military force 

(Public Law 107–40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note), stating that 

‘‘the President is authorized 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’’; 

Whereas following extensive debate and numerous hearings 

on the topic, both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed the Military Commissions Act of 

2009, which became law on October 28, 2009 (title 

XVIII of Public Law 111–84); and 

Whereas pursuant to the President’s authority under the 

United States Constitution as the Nation’s Commanderin-Chief, as well as the Congressional authorization for 

the use of military force under Public Law 107–40, the 

President has both the authority and the responsibility to 

detain Abdulmutallab and other foreign terrorists and 

prosecute them through a military tribunal for their terrorist actions on behalf of al Qaeda: Now, therefore, be 

it 


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1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) foreign terrorists who are enemies of the 

3 United States should not be afforded the same 

4 rights under the Constitution as United States citi5 zens; 

6 (2) the most important duty of the Attorney 

7 General is to protect the United States from its ter8 rorist enemies; 

9 (3) the decision by Attorney General Holder to 

10 truncate Abdulmutallab’s interrogation after only 50 

11 minutes cost the United States Government untold 

12 intelligence and has made America less safe; 

13 (4) Attorney General Holder should not provide 

14 Abdulmutallab with a civilian trial, nor should he 

15 have ordered that Abdulmutallab be advised of his 

16 right to remain silent; 

17 (5) to the extent possible, foreign terrorist 

18 enemy combatants should be tried in military tribu19 nals rather than in civilian courts; 

20 (6) to the extent that foreign terrorists are 

21 prosecuted in civilian courts, they should be thor22 oughly interrogated for information necessary to 

23 protect the United States before they are provided 

24 with a lawyer and informed of their right to remain 

25 silent; and 


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1 (7) at a minimum, the Attorney General should 

2 consult with the Director of the Federal Bureau of 

3 Investigation, the Director of National Intelligence, 

4 the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the 

5 Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of the 

6 National Counterterrorism Center, the Secretary of 

7 Defense, congressional leaders, or the President be8 fore unilaterally deciding to terminate the interroga9 tion of a key intelligence source and provide a ter10 rorist enemy with the same rights as those that are 

11 guaranteed under the Constitution for United States 

12 citizens. 

Æ 


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