[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 829]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    PRISONERS ARE BEING RELEASED FROM GUANTANAMO AT AN ALARMING RATE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Indiana (Mrs. Walorski) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. WALORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of legislation I 
introduced last week as a companion piece to a bill offered by Senator 
Kelly Ayotte to protect the safety of the United States and its allies 
and restrict the transfers of detainees from Guantanamo Bay.
  Since mid-November, the President and his administration have ramped 
up an effort to make good on a campaign promise to increase the number 
of Guantanamo detainee transfers. Last night during his State of the 
Union Address, the President reaffirmed his commitment to close this 
facility once and for all, and he is releasing prisoners at an alarming 
rate. Twenty-one terrorists have been released just in November alone 
to foreign countries. This comes at the expense of our own national 
security.
  H.R. 401, the Detaining Terrorists to Protect America Act of 2015, 
would suspend the transfer of high- and medium-risk detainees and 
prohibit any detainee transfers to Yemen as well as increase 
transparency regarding the remaining Guantanamo detainees.
  Detainees at GTMO pose a real threat to our national security. When I 
speak with folks at home, my constituents, moms and dads, and they ask 
me how safe we really are, this rate of reengagement comes to mind. The 
U.S. intelligence community reports that the number of former GTMO 
detainees who reengage in terrorism has steadily increased since 2002.
  According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 
they reported the combined and suspected confirmed reengagement rate of 
former GTMO detainees has risen to more than an alarming 30 percent. 
Before we proceed with any more additional transfers, we must ensure 
the transfer process is further examined and improved.
  In order to protect our fellow Americans, we must stop releasing some 
of the world's most dangerous terrorists, especially given the fact 
that they are already reengaging in hostilities against the United 
States and our allies.
  This measure would repeal current law that has allowed the 
administration to transfer prisoners to foreign countries and reduce 
the population at GTMO down to 127. The bill also would prohibit 
transfers of terror suspects to a foreign country if there has been a 
confirmed case where an individual was transferred from GTMO and 
engaged in any other terrorist activity.
  The bill would also prohibit the transfer of terror suspects 
considered to be high or medium risk. Some of the most recent transfer 
detainees fell into those categories.
  In addition, this bill would stop the transfer of detainees to Yemen 
because the country has become a hotbed for terrorist activities. It 
makes no sense to send terrorists to a country where there is an active 
al Qaeda network that we know has been engaged in targeting the U.S.
  Most importantly, Yemen's branch of al Qaeda, commonly known as AQAP, 
was founded by former GTMO detainees. Counterterrorism experts have 
declared AQAP to be al Qaeda's most effective affiliate, posing the 
greatest danger to the American homeland.
  We cannot risk trusting the world's most dangerous terrorists to its 
most dangerous places, nor should we simply cut them loose in rich, 
stable countries with no security safeguards in place. We have to ask 
ourselves today: How much are we really willing to risk with our own 
national security in our American homeland?
  I want to thank Senator Ayotte for working with me, and I look 
forward to working with her to advance this legislation. I look forward 
to continuing our partnership to prevent the release of dangerous 
terrorists who seek to reengage in terrorism against the U.S. and our 
allies. This bill ensures our homeland remains safe from those 
terrorist attacks.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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