Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island, echoed Hickenlooper’s sentiments, describing the guilty plea as “compelling.” Virginia Democrat Senator Tim Kaine also viewed the plea deals as generally positive, stating that they offer a sense of closure after more than two decades since the attacks.
Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota acknowledged the difficulty in reaching a resolution after so many years, expressing relief that the terrorists remain incarcerated. “I doubt that we would have gotten to the point of a death penalty execution anyway,” Rounds stated. “I’m glad they are ‘out of circulation’ and ‘still in prison.'”
