House votes to halt Guantanamo detainee transfers

Joe Wilson, Jeff Duncan and Mark Sanford.

The bill, introduced by Congresswoman Jackie Walorski, would prevent USA agency funds from being used to transfer any detainees until the National Defense Authorization Act is passed, or until January 1, 2017. The facility lies five miles from North Charleston, and Gov. Nikki Haley testified before a House Homeland Security subcommittee in April about the impact it could have on the state.

After the vote, the White House said the House is playing politics.

Democrats said the legislation would strip Obama of his lawful authority over the prison. The legislation would ban the transfer of any Guantanamo prisoners until a new defense policy bill is passed or when the next president assumed office on January 21, 2017, according to The Washington Post.

“What else will it take for the president to change course on this flawed campaign promise?”

He said closing Guantanamo is in the national security interest of the USA and the move would also save a significant amount of taxpayers’ money.

The administration has worked to empty the prison as much as possible by moving detainees who have been cleared to foreign countries that accept them.

Democrats also counter Republican warnings about recidivism among released detainees with numbers indicating most who have gone “back to the fight” were released during George W. Bush’s administration.

Nadler said the provision that would halt detainee transfers until Obama’s second term expires “says in effect this president is not really our president for all practical purposes – for every practical goal”.

Jackie Walorski, blocks any funding for transfer or release of detainees from the prison.

Two more detainees released from the Guantanamo Bay detention center in the first half of the year have rejoined militant groups, the White House announced Wednesday.

“And he has plans to release more”. According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, over 85% of detainees transferred under the Obama Administration are not suspected of being involved in terrorist or insurgent activities.

“No state should be a terrorist dumping ground”, Duncan said in a statement. There are now 61 inmates at “Gitmo”, with 20 cleared for release.

The 12 Democrats who voted for the measure were largely centrists, including Reps.

When Obama took office, the Bush administration had already transferred 500 inmates from the facility, leaving 240 behind. “Now we come to the end, and you have in many respects, succeeded.that said, I think that you get my drift that this ain’t going nowhere”.

Walorski said the remaining prisoners “are hardened terrorists”.

“While enforcement of transfer conditions may deter re-engagement by many former detainees and delay re-engagement by others”, the report said, “some detainees who are determined to re-engage will do so regardless of any transfer conditions, albeit probably at a lower rate than if they were transferred without conditions”.