Pennsylvania: Home of the "Charter of Liberties"

(Jump direct to quick links: PA members of Congress on Guantanamo.)

This view of the Liberty Bell is one that I saw many, many times during my years living in Philadelphia.


Over the years, I took many visiting groups -- from China and other parts of the world -- to see the sights, and the culmination was always a visit to the Liberty Bell. One of the referents of the bell -- it refers to at least three distinct liberty movements in American history -- is William Penn's Charter of Liberties. It's hard to be from Pennsylvania and not feel that you have a special relationship to our country's origins and the liberties our forebears fought for.

Even more than the Liberty Bell, it is Washington Square Park that holds special meaning for me. It is a beautiful park filled with enormous oaks; it is not until you visit the monument in the center of the park that you learn that it was a British prisoner-of-war camp during the Revolutionary War, and that "in unmarked graves within this square lie thousands of unknown soldiers of Washington's army who died of wounds and sickness" during their internment.


I used to walk through Washington Square Park on my way to work every morning, and I seldom did so without intoning to myself the words on that monument: "Freedom is a light for which many men have died in darkness."

On the Guantanamo issue, there have been a few lions from Pennsylvania.

Congressman John Murtha (D, 12th) has spoken frequently and forcefully in favor of reversing the abuses of Guantanamo. He has said, "Guantanamo has cast a dark shadow over two centuries of America’s moral leadership in the world. . . . . [I]n order to restore our international credibility, we must shut down the Guantanamo detention facility." (more by Congressman Murtha on Guantanamo)

Congressman Joe Sestak (D, 7th) has given strong support to civilian trials of accused terrorists. He has said, "What could send a stronger signal to the world of American resolve than bringing these people to justice in New York City? The last thing we should do is allow these terrorists to cause us to abandon our American principles. We are a nation of laws, not men." (more by Congressman Sestak on Guantanamo)

Other Pennsylvania congressmen have opposed the closure of Guantanamo.

Here's how Congressman Joseph Pitts (R, 16th) characterizes Guantanamo:"Pancakes with syrup, whole wheat bagels, scrambled eggs. That is not what I had for breakfast this morning, but there is a good chance that the terrorist prisoners at Guantanamo Bay were eating this morning. . . . Each person is treated according to the Geneva Convention, though none of these prisoners meets the qualifications of soldiers under that treaty. . . . ." (more by Congressman Pitts on Guantanamo)

Congressman Bill Shuster (R, 9th) has said, "It is clear that terrorists, whether using a plane to kill innocent Americans or exploding car bombs in the Middle East, do not fight fairly. They fight cowardly and do not show their face. However, the Department of Defense treats these detainees in accord with the Geneva Convention, even though that is not required because of the inhumane methods used by these killers." (more by Congressman Shuster on Guantanamo)

Congressman Charles Dent (R, 15th) has said, "I, for one, sleep well at night knowing that these dangerous terrorists are detained at Guantanamo Bay instead of somewhere in the United States." (more by Congressman Dent on Guantanamo)

Information on how to contact your representative, and on their Guantanamo positions, is shown below.

(Don't know who your representative is? Look him/her up by zip code here.)

(Don't know how what to say? Suggestions for getting started here.)

Altmire, Jason	D	4th	Contact
Brady, Robert A.	D	1st	Contact
Carney, Christopher P.	D	10th	Contact
Dahlkemper, Kathleen A.	D	3rd	Contact
Dent, Charles W.	R	15th	Contact	On Gitmo	above
Doyle, Michael F.	D	14th	Contact
Fattah, Chaka	D	2nd	Contact
Gerlach, Jim	R	6th	Contact
Holden, Tim	D	17th	Contact
Kanjorski, Paul E.	D	11th	Contact
Murphy, Patrick J.	D	8th	Contact
Murphy, Tim	R	18th	Contact	On Gitmo	above
Murtha, John P.	D	12th	Contact	On Gitmo	above
Pitts, Joseph R.	R	16th	Contact	On Gitmo	above
Platts, Todd Russell	R	19th	Contact
Schwartz, Allyson Y.	D	13th	Contact
Sestak, Joe	D	7th	Contact	On Gitmo	above
Shuster, Bill	R	9th	Contact	On Gitmo	above
Thompson, Glenn	R	5th	Contact