[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7249]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      STOP GIVING GUANTANAMO PRISONERS EXPENSIVE SPECIAL TREATMENT

  (Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I had 43 students and 
chaperones from Washburn High School in east Tennessee as my guests at 
the Capitol.
  Among other things, I told them I was next going to a hearing about 
the prison in Guantanamo and that one group had estimated it was now 
costing us over $4 million per prisoner to keep that prison open. One 
of the students said, ``How can I get in?''
  There are now only 80 prisoners there, and we spent $445 million to 
run the facility in 2015. The Washington Times reported in 2013 that we 
were giving these prisoners classes on computers, horticulture, art, 
and calligraphy as well as library services, special food, and 
recreational facilities. We sometimes hear of country club prisons. 
Apparently, this should be called a resort prison.
  I know the Federal Government cannot do anything in a fiscally 
conservative way, but spending $4 million per prisoner in Guantanamo is 
ridiculous. It costs an average of $34,000 per year per prisoner in 
most Federal prisons and $78,000 per year in the supermax prison.
  Mr. Speaker, we should stop giving these terrorists such ridiculously 
expensive special treatment and send all 80 to the worst, most 
dangerous prison in the U.S.

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