Scott Resolution Puts Senate on Record Opposing Transfer of GITMO Detainees

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), along with four Senate colleagues, today introduced a resolution formally rejecting President Obama’s plan to transfer prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities to an alternate location in American communities, which is explicitly prohibited by law. The resolution is sponsored by Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and cosponsored by US Senators Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).

“President Obama continues to show his willingness to defy current law, Congress and the American people in regards to Guantanamo Bay. Guantanamo holds the worst of the worst, and that’s where these dangerous terrorists should stay. The President’s effort to transfer as many detainees as possible out of Guantanamo before removing the remaining terrorists to domestic soil is misguided and reckless. Our resolution makes the Senate’s position clear, leave Gitmo open and do not send dangerous terrorists to US soil. I’m proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with Sens. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) as we continue to fight to ensure our nation is safe.”

The resolution states that the Senate:

  • Rejects the “Plan to Closing Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility” presented by the President on February 23, 2016, to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release of Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States homeland, in contravention of current United States law that explicitly prohibits such transfers
  • Finds that Guantanamo Bay detention facility is the optimal location to house dangerous foreign enemy combatants
  • Asserts that any potential transfer or release of Guantanamo Bay detainees to the U.S. 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
  • Demands that the President immediately abandon any ill-conceived and illegal plans to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States homeland without explicit authorization from the United States Congress.

Sites in South Carolina, Kansas, and Colorado have been surveyed as potential replacements for Guantanamo.

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