Duval Times

Twenty-three years ago, the United States was attacked by Islamic terrorists on September 11, 2001. Now, Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted in a U.S. court for his role in the attack, has requested the U.S. Department of Justice to allow a prisoner transfer to his home country of France.

U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), and colleagues sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland firmly demanding that under no conditions should this terrorist be granted the privilege of returning to his homeland.

“No consideration whatsoever should be given to this convicted terrorist’s preferences for where to serve his sentence for his heinous crimes, and we demand that you swiftly deny his transfer request and force him to spend the remainder of his pathetic life imprisoned in the country he and his fellow terrorists attacked 23 years ago.”

Joining Rubio and Scott were Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jim Risch (R-ID), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Mike Braun (R-IN), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Hoeven (R-ND) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE).

The full text of the letter is below:

Dear President Biden and Attorney General Garland:

It has come to our attention that Zacarias Moussaoui – the only person to be convicted in a U.S. court for his role in the devastating terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 – has submitted a request to the U.S. Department of Justice to be transferred to his home country of France to serve the remainder of his life sentence. No consideration whatsoever should be given to this convicted terrorist’s preferences for where to serve his sentence for his heinous crimes, and we demand that you swiftly deny his transfer request and force him to spend the remainder of his pathetic life imprisoned in the country he and his fellow terrorists attacked 23 years ago.

On September 11, 2001, 2,977 American citizens were murdered in a series of cowardly terrorist attacks on U.S. soil planned and committed by members of Al-Qaeda, including Moussaoui. Nothing can bring back the innocent lives lost on that terrible day, but the tens of thousands of surviving family members of the victims should be able to expect that our government will keep Moussaoui confined in an American prison for the entirety of his life sentence without possibility of release or transfer.

This should not be a difficult decision to make. We demand that you swiftly deny this terrorist’s international transfer request.

Sincerely,