[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 30 (Thursday, February 25, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H902]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CLOSING GUANTANAMO IS A MISPLACED PRIORITY

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act 
prevents the President from closing the detention facility at 
Guantanamo Bay unless he submits a plan that receives congressional 
approval. He has not. This week President Obama submitted the plan to 
close the prison anyway.
  There are currently 91 detainees at Guantanamo Bay. There were 242 
when the President took office. His plan calls for transferring 35 of 
the remaining detainees to other countries.
  These detainees have been cleared for transfer by the relevant 
national security agencies. Approximately 60 detainees will be 
transferred to facilities in the United States on our own soil. These 
are not even specified in the plan.
  The Department of Defense has identified many potential sites, but 
again this has not received congressional approval. Construction for a 
new facility on American soil would cost nearly half a billion dollars.
  With all these things going on, with the former GTMO detainees being 
re-arrested for recruiting new ISIS members and an expiration of the 
timeline for developing an ISIS plan to defeat ISIS, this is a 
misplaced priority by the President.
  We need to stick to the business of what is going to keep our country 
safe, not fulfill some campaign promise.

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