Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) introduced a resolution on Tuesday rejecting the Obama administration’s plan to close the Guantánamo Bay prison and transfer up to 60 detainees to the United States.
The resolution, co-sponsored by Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), would allow senators to go on record as opposing the plan.
{mosads}The administration last month submitted its long-promised proposal for closing the detention facility, including bringing 30 to 60 detainees to a secure facility in the U.S.
The law now prohibits any detainees from being moved to the U.S., but some Republicans fear President Obama will try to do so anyway via executive action.
A Pentagon team conducted several visits last year to scout potential prison sites for the detainees in Kansas, South Carolina and Colorado — including the barracks at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
“The President has failed to find a suitable site in a U.S. community to relocate terrorists held at Guantanamo because there is no suitable site on our shores,” Roberts said in a statement.
“Despite this failure and law prohibiting it, the president has said he will still transfer detainees by executive order,” Roberts said.
“This resolution puts the Senate on record, again demonstrating to the president our clear opposition to this security risk. Perhaps something will deter him from an agenda in which the wishes and the security of the American people are last on the list.”