[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1012 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1012

To prohibit the use of funds available to the Department of Defense to 
   transfer enemy combatants detained by the United States at Naval 
 Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States, or to construct 
        facilities for such enemy combatants at such locations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 12, 2009

 Mr. Cole (for himself, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. Burton of Indiana, 
    Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Ms. Fallin, Mr. Wamp, Mr. Pitts, Mrs. 
 Schmidt, Mr. Hensarling, Mr. Bishop of Utah, Mr. Gingrey of Georgia, 
   Mr. Akin, Mr. Westmoreland, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Pence, Mr. Broun of 
    Georgia, Mr. Kline of Minnesota, Mr. Garrett of New Jersey, Mr. 
  Fleming, Mr. Barrett of South Carolina, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mr. 
 Brown of South Carolina, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, 
 Mr. Conaway, and Mrs. Bachmann) introduced the following bill; which 
            was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the use of funds available to the Department of Defense to 
   transfer enemy combatants detained by the United States at Naval 
 Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States, or to construct 
        facilities for such enemy combatants at such locations.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility 
Safe Closure Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Since the United States began its Global War on 
        Terrorism, terrorists have been captured by the United States 
        and their allies and detained in facilities at Guantanamo Bay 
        Detention Facility (GTMO), Cuba.
            (2) The detainee complex at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is the 
        only complex in the world that can safely and humanely hold 
        individuals that pose a high-security risk to the United 
        States. It is a secure location away from population centers, 
        provides maximum security required to prevent escape, provides 
        multiple levels of confinement opportunities based on 
        compliance of the detainee, and provides medical care not 
        available to a majority of the population of the world.
            (3) GTMO is the single greatest repository of human 
        intelligence in the war on terror. This intelligence has 
        prevented terrorist attacks and saved lives in the past and 
        continues to do so today.
            (4) New intelligence being collected from detainees at GTMO 
        is being used to fight terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, and 
        around the globe.
            (5) Intelligence information obtained from questioning 
        detainees includes--
                    (A) the organizational structure of al-Qaida and 
                other terrorist groups;
                    (B) the extent of terrorist presence in Europe, the 
                United States, and the Middle East;
                    (C) al-Qaida's pursuit of weapons of mass 
                destruction;
                    (D) methods of recruitment and locations of 
                recruitment centers;
                    (E) terrorist skill sets, including general and 
                specialized operative training; and
                    (F) how legitimate financial activities are used to 
                hide terrorist operations.
            (6) The Expeditionary Legal Complex (ELC) located at GTMO 
        is the only one of its kind in the world. It provides a secure 
        location to secure and try detainees charged by the United 
        States Government, full access to sensitive and classified 
        information, full access to defense lawyers and prosecution, 
        and full media access by the press.
            (7) There are on average two lawyers for every detainee 
        that has been charged or had charges preferred against them at 
        GTMO.
            (8) There are 127 doctors, nurses, and medical technicians 
        dedicated to caring for and maintaining the health of each 
        detainee--a ratio of 1:2 (one health care professional for 
        every two detainees).
            (9) GTMO is operated by the Department of Defense and only 
        interrogation techniques approved by the Secretary of Defense 
        have been used.
            (10) Detainees are being treated humanely.
            (11) There are no solitary confinement facilities at 
        Guantanamo.
            (12) Water boarding has never occurred at GTMO.
            (13) Current treatment and oversight exceed any maximum-
        security prison in the world.
            (14) Since 2002, more than 520 detainees have departed 
        Guantanamo for other countries, including Albania, Afghanistan, 
        Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, 
        France, Great Britain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, 
        Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, 
        Spain, Sweden, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, the United 
        Kingdom, and Yemen.
            (15) There are approximately 245 detainees from over 30 
        countries remaining at GTMO. These detainees include terrorist 
        trainers, terrorist financiers, bomb makers, Osama bin Laden 
        bodyguards, recruiters and facilitators, and would-be suicide 
        bombers. Detainees remaining at GTMO fall into three 
        categories:
                    (A) Detainees who have been cleared for release but 
                the United States has not been able to find a foreign 
                country willing to accept them.
                    (B) Detainees who have been tried, had charges 
                referred to trial, or are awaiting for referral to 
                trial.
                    (C) Detainees who are either of high threat to the 
                United States or are from countries where the United 
                States is unable to get sufficient assurances that the 
                country will mitigate their threat if transferred.
            (16) The Pentagon claims that 61 of released GTMO detainees 
        have ``returned to the fight''.
            (17) Said Ali al-Shihri, suspected of involvement in the 
        bombing of the United States Embassy in Yemen on 17 September 
        2008, was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007, passed through a 
        Saudi rehabilitation program, and has resurfaced as the new 
        deputy leader of al-Qaida in Yemen.
            (18) In 2007, the Senate passed a resolution, 94-3, 
        stating, ``detainees housed at Guantanamo should not be 
        released into American society, nor should they be transferred 
        stateside into facilities in American communities and 
        neighborhoods.''.
            (19) On January 20, 2009, President Obama instructed 
        military prosecutors to seek a 120-day suspension of legal 
        proceedings at GTMO or what administration officials called ``a 
        continuance of the proceedings''.
            (20) On January 22, 2009, President Obama ordered the 
        closing of the GTMO prisons within a year.
            (21) The United States is still in a global war on terror, 
        engaged in armed conflict with terrorist organizations, and 
        will, in all probability, continue to capture terrorists who 
        will be detained in a facility.
            (22) If the detention facility at GTMO is closed, some 
        United States domestic or overseas prison will have to house 
        these detainees while they await disposition.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS TO TRANSFER INDIVIDUALS DETAINED AT 
              GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA, TO THE UNITED STATES, OR TO 
              COORDINATE WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS OR AGENCIES FOR SUCH 
              TRANSFER.

    None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the 
Department of Defense may be used--
            (1) to transfer any enemy combatant detained by the United 
        States at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United 
        States; or
            (2) to coordinate with any other department or agency for 
        the purposes of transferring of any such enemy combatant to the 
        United States.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON USE OF CERTAIN CLOSED DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
              FACILITIES TO HOUSE ENEMY COMBATANTS.

    The Secretary of Defense may not use or authorize the use of any 
facility that is closed through a base closure process for housing any 
enemy combatant who, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, is 
detained by the United States at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON CONSTRUCTING, IMPROVING, MODIFYING, OR OTHERWISE 
              ENHANCING ANY FACILITY IN THE UNITED STATES OR ITS 
              TERRITORIES FOR THE PURPOSE OF HOUSING ANY DETAINEE 
              CURRENTLY OR PREVIOUSLY HOUSED AT GUANTANAMO.

    The Secretary of Defense may not construct, improve, modify, or 
otherwise enhance any facility in the United States or its territories 
for the purpose of housing any enemy combatant who, as of the date of 
the enactment of this Act, is detained by the United States at Naval 
Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or who has ever been so detained.
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