Senate

Senate GOP: Obama must release details on Gitmo detainees

by Jordain Carney - 04/13/16 3:29 PM ET

Senate Republicans want the Obama administration to publicly release information about Guantánamo Bay detainees several weeks before they plan a detainee transfer to another country.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced legislation Wednesday requiring the Pentagon to make information about a detainee publicly available at least 21 days before releasing or transferring them.

{mosads}”If [President Obama] is unashamedly trying to seal his legacy item to close Gitmo, then he should fully communicate to the public who these terrorists are and the justification for their release or the restrictions on their transfers,” said Inhofe, a member of the Armed Services Committee.

Republicans argue that by pushing to close the controversial Cuban facility, the president is putting an unfulfilled campaign promise above national security.

As part of the public disclosure, the secretary of Defense would have to release the detainee’s name, where they’ll be transferred or released to, their “risk profile,” and a summary of the agreement with the detainee’s new host country.

Inhofe’s legislation would also ban Obama from closing the facility — similar to a recent proposal from Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) — and keep in place the ban on transferring detainees into the United States.

The administration’s plan, which it submitted to Congress earlier this year, includes transferring some detainees into the United States as part of an effort to close the facility.

Republican Sens. John Barrasso (Wyo.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Joni Ernst (Iowa), Orrin Hatch (Utah), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), James Lankford (Okla.), Jerry Moran (Kan.), Mike Rounds (S.D.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), John Thune (S.D.) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) currently back the legislation.

Senators argue the bill would allow Americans to know more about which detainees are being transferred, and how.

Rubio added, “The American public should have as much information as possible about the terrorist detainees the Obama administration is seeking to release around the world.”

Inhofe’s proposal is the latest in a recent string aimed at cracking down and effectively undercutting the president’s ability close Guantánamo Bay before he leaves office early next year.

There are currently 89 detainees at Guantánamo Bay.