GOP senators ask watchdog to examine Gitmo site surveys spending

A trio of Republican senators is asking a government watchdog to look into whether the Pentagon violated the law by surveying sites in their states as potential alternatives for the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

{mosads}“Given that the [Department of Defense] spent appropriated funds to survey potential relocation sites for Guantanamo detainees when no money was available for that purpose, we respectfully request your opinion as to whether the DoD violated the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016,” the senators wrote to Gene Dodaro, comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office.

The letter was sent by Republican Sens. Cory Gardner (Colo.), Pat Roberts (Kan.) and Tim Scott (S.C.).

In helping President Obama draft a plan for closing the Guantanamo detention facility that would transfer some detainees to the United States, the Pentagon sent teams to survey Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, S.C.; and the federal prison in Florence, Colo.

Last week, the Kansas attorney general released a one-page document he obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request that tallies the money the Pentagon spent to survey those sites.

In total, the Pentagon spent $25,909.53 on airfare, per diem and incidentals for the three visits, according to the document.

That breaks down to $7,687.20 for Fort Leavenworth, $7,158 for Charleston and $11,064.33 for Florence.

Under defense policy and spending bills, the Pentagon is banned from using funds to “transfer, release or assist in the transfer or release” of Guantanamo detainees to the United States.

The provision has effectively prevented Obama from fulfilling his promise to close the facility, as his plan hinges on transferring detainees deemed too dangerous to release to a facility in the U.S.

In their letter, the senators contend the Pentagon site surveys violated the bills.

“These expenditures were made in contravention of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2016, which prohibits the use of any funds to assist in the transfer of any individual detained at Guantanamo Bay to the United States as well as the use of any funds to prepare any facility in the United States to house any Guantanamo detainee,” they wrote. “Moreover, Sections 527 and 528 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, reinforce the prohibitions set forth in the fiscal 2016 NDAA.”

There can be no other interpretation of the bill, they added. 

“The meaning of Sections 527 and 528 is clear and unambiguous,” they wrote. “No appropriated funds are legally available for the relocation of Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States.”