{"id":1539485,"date":"2022-07-05T09:20:10","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T13:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1539485"},"modified":"2022-07-05T09:20:17","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T13:20:17","slug":"democrats-are-trying-to-close-guantanamo-bay-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-are-trying-to-close-guantanamo-bay-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Are Trying to Close Guantanamo Bay Again"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-are-trying-to-close-guantanamo-bay-again%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1539485&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>Democrats are reviving their efforts to shutter the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, but the push faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where Republicans are already writing it off as doomed.<\/p>\n<p>In the past month, House Democrats have advanced legislation seeking to close the facility in Cuba as part of a larger annual defense spending bill leaders are expected to bring to a vote in the full chamber, where the party holds narrow control, in the coming weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>But in the Senate, where Democrats will need GOP support to pass the defense funding bill, the move faces a wall of opposition from Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d Sen. James Inhofe (Okla.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told The Hill, adding \u201cno rational person\u2019s going to support that. It\u2019s an absolutely vital institution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Mike Rogers (Ala.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, also cast doubt on closing Gitmo, pointing to Democrats\u2019 thin margins in both chambers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have such slim majorities right now. It\u2019s difficult for them to do anything \u2026 So, getting something that controversial done is just, as a practical matter, not going to happen,\u201d Rogers said.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats behind the push, however, say they see it as one worth the fight, despite the staunch opposition from Republicans, as well as some Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m gonna work hard in conference committee,\u201d Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), chairwoman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on Defense, said on the matter. \u201cIt\u2019s not a good use of taxpayers\u2019 money, and if we need more money for defense, it should go to things that are going to make a difference in our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>McCollum\u2019s comments echo criticisms that have long been leveled against a facility that has reportedly cost taxpayers\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2019\/09\/11\/759523615\/guant-namo-court-and-prison-have-cost-billions-whistleblower-alleges-gross-waste\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hundreds of millions<\/a>\u00a0since its opening two decades ago and has been the source of troubling\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/defense\/579138-guantanamo-bay-detainee-gives-first-public-account-of-cia-torture-in-us-court\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accounts of torture<\/a>\u00a0and accusations of judicial violations.<\/p>\n<p>But, while both Republican and Democratic presidents have pushed for its closure in the past, finding a bipartisan agreement on a path forward on the issue has remained elusive to Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe should\u2019ve closed it years ago,\u201d said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. \u201cI agreed with President Bush on that. I agreed with President Obama.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI would vote for anything to close Guantanamo Bay,\u201d Leahy added, though he noted, \u201cYou have to have the votes, and we\u2019ve tried before and they haven\u2019t been able to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And on the other side of the aisle, a number of Republicans have pointed to long-held fears surrounding the facility and what would happen if it were to be emptied out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToo many folks are afraid of the rights that would attach to those people when they get into this country and they got into our legal system, and that\u2019s the main reason, I think, that they would keep them there,\u201d Rogers said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Rep. Kay Granger (Texas), top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, said, \u201cThese detainees are the worst of the worst, and we need assurance that they will never be moved to the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But advocates have pushed back on such comments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe thing to keep in mind about all the rhetoric right now is that it has absolutely nothing to do with the specifics of the men who are actually held there right now,\u201d said Shayana Kadidal, senior managing attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has represented Guantanamo detainees.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cWe have had years and years to think about who was worthy of being charged, and that set has not changed at all since about 2012,\u201d Kadidal said, adding that, this month, \u201cthe average age at Gitmo is going to tick over 50 for the men who are left.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Figures gathered by the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/issues\/national-security\/detention\/guantanamo-numbers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)<\/a>\u00a0show that nearly 800 people have been detained at the prison since former President George W. Bush opened it in 2002, months after the 9\/11 terror attacks.<\/p>\n<p>And since then, more than 700 inmates have been released, including over 500 under the Bush administration and about 200 under former Obama.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>There are three-dozen detainees being held in Guantanamo Bay, a National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson told The Hill.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Of those, 19 are eligible for transfer, five are eligible for a periodic review board, nine are involved in the military commissions process and three have been convicted in military commissions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdmittedly, they are the hardest cases, which no previous administration has been able to resolve in the last 20 years,\u201d the NSC spokesperson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The Biden administration has been working to decrease the number of detainees held in the facility. But Kadidal expressed concern about the pace at which it is moving.<\/p>\n<p>The administration transferred its first detainee from Guantanamo<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/administration\/563629-biden-administration-transfers-first-guantanamo-bay-detainee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a0in July 2021<\/a>, moving Abdul Latif Nasir to Morocco. Since then, the administration has transferred two more: Mohammad Mani Amad al-Qahtani to Saudi Arabia<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/Releases\/Release\/Article\/2957801\/guantanamo-bay-detainee-transfer-announced\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a0on March 7<\/a>\u00a0and Sufiyan Barhoumi to Algeria<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/defense\/3257354-dod-announces-transfer-of-guantanamo-bay-detainee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a0on April 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Most recently, the Department of Defense<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/Releases\/Release\/Article\/3073210\/guantanamo-bay-detainee-transfer-announced\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a0announced on June 24<\/a>\u00a0that it transferred Asadullah Haroon al-Afghani, also known as \u201cGul,\u201d from Guantanamo to his home country of Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Gul, who arrived at Gitmo in 2007, was accused of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.prs.mil\/Portals\/60\/Documents\/ISN3148\/FullReview2\/210310_U_FOUO_ISN3148_FR6_Detainee_Summary_UPR.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a0being a commander<\/a>\u00a0for the Hezb e Islami Gulbuddin (HIG), a militant group that organized attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan. He was also accused of being a courier for al Qaeda military commander Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.prs.mil\/Portals\/60\/Documents\/ISN3148\/FullReview2\/210629_CUI_ISN3148_FH2_TRANSCRIPT_PUBLIC_SESSION_UPR.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">which he denies<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Biden administration remains dedicated to a deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo facility,\u201d the NSC spokesperson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have reviewed the status of everyone who is eligible for [a Periodic Review Board] and are actively working to transfer everyone deemed eligible for transfer,\u201d the spokesperson added.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>But although more Democrats have pushed for the facility\u2019s closure over the years, not all members of the party in the current Congress are on board with the idea.<\/p>\n<p>The $761 billion defense funding bill advanced recently by the House Appropriations Committee explicitly prohibits funds from being used to operate the facility after Sept. 30, 2023. But, at a markup session on the bill last month, two Democrats joined Republicans in voting in favor of an amendment offered by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) to revoke that provision, ultimately failing in a largely party-line vote.<\/p>\n<p>Legislation currently advanced by the House and Senate Armed Services committees in mid-June has also sent mixed signals on the fate of Guantanamo Bay.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The House Armed Services Committee\u2019s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed on June 23, limits the Pentagon\u2019s ability to transfer detainees to Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan. But it doesn\u2019t explicitly prohibit the administration from closing the facility, a departure from past precedent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Services Committee\u2019s version of the legislation, which passed a week prior, extends longstanding restrictions related to Guantanamo Bay through Dec. 31, 2023. This includes the bans on transferring detainees to the U.S and constructing facilities in the U.S. to house detainees.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"thehill-promo-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/healthcare\/3544360-why-kansas-will-be-a-bellwether-in-abortion-fight\/\" class=\"thehill-promo-link__link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\tWhy Kansas will be a bellwether in abortion fight\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/cybersecurity\/3544472-rising-threats-spark-us-scramble-for-cyber-workers\/\" class=\"thehill-promo-link__link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\tRising threats spark US scramble for cyber workers\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>The Senate legislation also extends through fiscal year 2023 the ban on the U.S. closing the facility outright or relinquishing control over it.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Though Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said in a recent interview that there are \u201cmany, many reasons\u201d the facility should be closed, he acknowledged the issue has \u201cbeen a contentious\u201d one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think trying is useful,\u201d Reed said of the effort being led in the House, though he noted \u201cit\u2019s gonna face lots of\u201d opposition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats are reviving their efforts to shutter the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, but the push faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where Republicans are already writing it off as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1539557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1539485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1539485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1539485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1539485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1539557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1539485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1539485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1539485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}