[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 8, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1346-S1347]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 391--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE TO OPPOSE THE 
 TRANSFER OF FOREIGN ENEMY COMBATANTS FROM THE DETENTION FACILITIES AT 
UNITED STATES NAVAL STATION, GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA, TO THE UNITED STATES 
                                HOMELAND

  Mr. ROBERTS (for himself, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Scott, Mr. Blunt, and Mr. 
Moran) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Armed Services:

                              S. Res. 391

       Whereas, on January 22, 2009, President Barack Obama issued 
     Executive Order 13492, requiring that the detention 
     facilities housing foreign enemy combatants at United States 
     Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ``shall be closed as 
     soon as practicable, and no later than 1 year from the date 
     of this order'';
       Whereas Executive Order 13492 states that ``[t]his order 
     shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and 
     subject to the availability of appropriations'';
       Whereas the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing 
     Appropriations Act, 2011 (Public Law 112-10), the 
     Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 
     (Public Law 112-55), the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
     2012 (Public Law 112-74), the Consolidated and Further 
     Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (Public Law 113-6), the 
     Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (Public Law 113-76), 
     the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015 (Public Law 
     113-164), the Consolidated and Further Continuing 
     Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 113-235), the Department 
     of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 
     114-4), and the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2016 (Public 
     Law 114-53) explicitly prohibit the transfer, release, or 
     assisting in the transfer or release, of detainees at United 
     States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, to the United States 
     homeland;
       Whereas the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
     Year 2013 (Public Law 112-239), the National Defense 
     Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (Public Law 113-66), 
     the Carl Levin and Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon National Defense 
     Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (Public Law 113-291), 
     and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
     2016 (Public Law 114-92) explicitly prohibit the transfer, 
     release, or assisting in the transfer or release, of 
     detainees at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, to 
     the United States homeland;
       Whereas the detention facilities at United States Naval 
     Station, Guantanamo Bay, are legal, safe, and humane, and 
     have been found consistent with international conventions 
     regarding the laws of war;
       Whereas, on February 23, 2009, a Department of Defense 
     review found that the detention facilities at United States 
     Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, complied with the requirements 
     of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 
     regarding the treatment of prisoners of war;
       Whereas in 2015, teams from the Department of Defense 
     visited Federal, military, and State-owned prisons in Kansas, 
     Colorado, and South Carolina for the express purpose of 
     relocating detainees at United States Naval Station, 
     Guantanamo Bay, to the United States homeland;
       Whereas Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, serves as the 
     intellectual center of the United States Army as home to the 
     Army University, the Command and General Staff College, and 
     the Combined Arms Center;
       Whereas Fort Leavenworth operates the United States 
     Disciplinary Barracks and Midwest Joint Regional Corrections 
     Facility, which holds convicted members of the Armed Forces;
       Whereas section 812 of title 10, United States Code 
     (article 12 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), states 
     that ``[n]o member of the armed forces may be placed in 
     confinement in immediate association with enemy prisoners or 
     other foreign nationals not members of the armed forces'';
       Whereas the facilities at Fort Leavenworth do not provide a 
     legal alternative for detainment of enemy combatants 
     currently held at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo 
     Bay;
       Whereas the sites visited by the Department of Defense 
     teams in Colorado are in close proximity to the densely-
     populated civilian areas of Pueblo and Colorado Springs, 
     Colorado;
       Whereas Colorado Springs is home to the United States Air 
     Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base, Schriever Air Force 
     Base, and Fort Carson Army Post;
       Whereas Peterson Air Force Base hosts the United States 
     Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace 
     Defense Command (NORAD), which are strategic military 
     installations, vital to our national defense and military 
     readiness;
       Whereas Pueblo is home to the United States Army Pueblo 
     Chemical Weapons Depot;
       Whereas the Consolidated Naval Brig, Hanahan, South 
     Carolina, has been visited by Department of Defense teams for 
     consideration as a potential site to relocate dangerous 
     international terrorists currently held in the detention 
     facilities at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay;
       Whereas the Consolidated Naval Brig is located less than a 
     mile from an elementary school, and is near other schools and 
     residential neighborhoods;
       Whereas the Consolidated Naval Brig is also in close 
     proximity to one of the busiest ports in the United States, 
     the Port of Charleston, as well as the City of Charleston, 
     one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country;
       Whereas the Consolidated Naval Brig is also located near 
     the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Systems 
     Center Atlantic and the Navy Nuclear Power Training Command, 
     which are strategic military installations, vital to our 
     national defense and military readiness;
       Whereas Department of Defense efforts to scout locations 
     for the express purpose of transferring detainees at United 
     States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, to the States of 
     Kansas, Colorado, or South Carolina are in violation of 
     current law, which explicitly prohibit the transfer, release, 
     or assisting in the transfer or release, of such detainees to 
     the United States homeland;
       Whereas, on November 17, 2015, Attorney General Loretta 
     Lynch stated to Congress that ``[w]ith respect to individuals 
     being transferred to the United States, the law currently 
     does not allow that'';
       Whereas, on January 26, 2016, Secretary of Defense Ashton 
     Carter stated in an interview that ``it's against the law now 
     to establish another detention facility [in the U.S.], so 
     therefore we have to get the support of Congress'';
       Whereas, on February 23, 2016, the Department of Defense 
     issued a report pursuant to section 1035 of the National 
     Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, entitled 
     ``Plan for Closing of the Guantanamo Bay Detention 
     Facility'';

[[Page S1347]]

       Whereas the report states that ``the Administration will 
     work with Congress to relocate [detainees] from the 
     Guantanamo Bay detention facility to a secure detention 
     facility in the United States''; and
       Whereas the report does not address or attempt to mitigate 
     the risks posed to local communities by the potential 
     transfer of foreign enemy combatants from United States Naval 
     Station, Guantanamo Bay, to United States soil, including to 
     communities in Kansas, Colorado, and South Carolina: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) rejects the ``Plan to Close Guantanamo Bay Detention 
     Facility'', presented by the President on February 23, 2016, 
     to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of 
     detainees at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, 
     Cuba, to the United States homeland;
       (2) determines that any attempt by the President to 
     transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of 
     detainees at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, to 
     the United States homeland is in direct violation of the 
     Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations 
     Act, 2011 (Public Law 112-10), the Consolidated and Further 
     Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112-55), the 
     Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112-74), 
     the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 
     2013 (Public Law 113-6), the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
     2014 (Public Law 113-76), the Continuing Appropriations 
     Resolution, 2015 (Public Law 113-164), the Consolidated and 
     Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 113-
     235), the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 
     2015 (Public Law 114-4), and the Continuing Appropriations 
     Act, 2016 (Public Law 114-53);
       (3) finds that the detention facility at United States 
     Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, is the optimal location to 
     house dangerous foreign enemy combatants and should not be 
     closed;
       (4) asserts that any potential transfer or release of 
     detainees at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, to 
     the United States homeland represents a threat to United 
     States national security due to the risk of providing law of 
     war detainees with rights and protections under the United 
     States Constitution, including the potential for release into 
     the United States, and, particularly, a threat to the safety 
     and security of local communities in the States of Kansas, 
     Colorado, and South Carolina; and
       (5) demands that the President immediately abandon any ill-
     conceived and illegal plans to transfer detainees at United 
     States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, to the United States 
     homeland without explicit authorization from Congress.

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