Senate Panel Passes Legislation to Block Most Executive Transfers from Gitmo

A Republican-led Senate panel voted Thursday to approve legislation that would bar most executive transfers from Gitmo.

gitmo detainees bergdahl
President Obama released five top Taliban terrorists from Gitmo in exchange for deserter Bowe Bergdahl.

Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel admitted in January on CNN that the White House pressured him to increase the pace of release of terrorists from Guantanamo Bay.

The AP reported, via Free Republic:

A Republican-led Senate panel on Thursday narrowly approved legislation that would bar most transfers of terror suspects from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a major roadblock in President Barack Obama’s push to close the detention center.

In a closed-door session, the Armed Services Committee voted 14-12 for the bill sponsored by Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and backed by the panel’s chairman, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Just as the panel was deliberating, the White House said Obama would veto the legislation if it reaches his desk. The president vowed as a 2008 candidate that he would close the federal prison, but congressional Republicans and some Democrats repeatedly have blocked his efforts during the last six years.

“Our position is that the continued operation of Guantanamo Bay weakens our national security and must be closed,” Obama spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We believe this bill puts more constraints on a process that should be actually working faster. And so we oppose this legislation and the president would veto it.”

When Obama took office six years ago, there were 242 detainees at Guantanamo. Today there are 122. Of those, 54 are eligible for transfer, 10 are being prosecuted or have been sentenced and the cases of the other 58 are being reviewed.

Previously On Released Gitmo Detainees:
** Gitmo Detainees Re-Arrested in Russia
** Former Gitmo Prisoner Arrested for Terrorism in Moscow
** Three Former Gitmo Detainees Held in Morocco
** Former Gitmo Inmate Involved in Russian Terror Attack on Nalchik
** Former Gitmo Detainee Re-Arrested in Pakistan
** Seven Percent of Gitmo Detainees Return to Battlefield.
** Former Club Gitmo Detainee Carries Out Suicide Mission in Iraq
** Pentagon: 61 Gitmo Grads Returned to Terror
** Former “Rehabilitated” Gitmo Detainee Becomes Al-Qaeda Chief
** 2 Former “Rehabilitated” Gitmo Grads Appear in Al-Qaeda Movie
** 11 Former “Rehabilitated” Gitmo Grads Back On Saudi Most Wanted List
** American Teenager Murdered By Former Gitmo Detainee
** Breaking: Taliban’s Top Officer in Southern Afghanistan Is Former Gitmo Detainee
** Former Gitmo Detainee Leads Fight Against US Troops
** Another Former “Rehabilitated” Gitmo Detainee Killed in Shootout
** Former Gitmo Detainee Now Al Qaeda “Spiritual Leader”
** Former Gitmo Detainees Lead Yemeni Al-Qaeda Group Linked to Detroit Bomber
** Former Gitmo Detainee Leads Insurgency in Southern Afghanistan
** Thanks Barack… Another Gitmo Detainee Returns to the Fold
** 25 Former Gitmo Detainees From Saudi Arabia Return to Life of Terror

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Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

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