CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
Aug. 5, 2009 – 12:02 a.m.
Guantánamo Ire Provokes Senate Threats
By Josh Rogin, CQ Staff
If it takes shutting down the Senate to block the Obama administration from moving prisoners from Guantánamo Bay to U.S. soil, that’s exactly what some Republican senators plan to do.
Following several reports Aug. 3 that the White House was debating two distinct proposals for dealing with more than 250 prisoners still housed at the detention facility at the U.S. military base in Cuba, senators from various parts of the country pledged to fight any attempt to move the terrorism suspects to the United States, severely complicating President Obama’s plan to close the prison by January.
One proposal, according to the reports, would be to establish a jail and court complex either at the U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., or at a maximum-security facility in Standish, Mich., that the state is closing. A separate idea would refer the detainees’ cases to federal civilian courts in New York, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
“You can always shut down the Senate by simply putting the Senate in a quorum call and objecting to any unanimous consent to go back to business,” Sen. Pat Roberts , R-Kan., said Tuesday.
Some in the Michigan delegation are open to the idea of housing the detainees in their state but still doubt that any plan could be enacted in time to meet Obama’s time frame for closing Guantánamo.
Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin , D-Mich., said the current restrictions on moving the prisoners to the United States, enacted in the last supplemental funding bill (PL 111-32), would likely remain in effect. “The law is that they’ve got to come up with a plan,” he said. “I doubt that the simple announcement that they’re looking to these possibilities would constitute compliance.”
Similar restrictions are included in several fiscal 2010 bills now moving through Congress, creating a de facto deadline for the White House to present a more detailed plan, Levin said. “It surely has to be there by the end of the fiscal year,” he said.
Disaster to Some, Opportunity to Others
The Kansas Republicans held multiple news conferences to drive home the idea that they would do everything they could to prevent detainees from being transferred to their state under any circumstances.
“We will use every legislative opportunity and every parliamentary tool we can to prevent this, maybe even shutting down the Senate,” Roberts said.
Roberts and the state’s senior senator, Republican Sam Brownback , are preparing legislative and procedural measures to pressure the administration to take Kansas off their list.
Brownback, the front-runner for an open-seat governor’s race next year, lamented that the administration made no attempt to work with him or local officials before “floating” this idea, adding that state and local officials were adamantly opposed.
Levin said he discussed the prospect of using the Standish facility with administration officials as recently as last week and could support it if local officials go along.
He rejected the notion put forth by Republicans that the detainees cannot be held safely in U.S. prisons. “They ought to talk to local people in Standish. They don’t feel that way,” Levin said. “They are willing to do it, and it would be an important economic boost.”
Republican senators also oppose the other alternative: trying Guantánamo prisoners in East Coast federal civilian courts. They argue that any process not fully under the military’s jurisdiction could open a Pandora’s box of legal issues.
“Under military law, you can hold someone off the battlefield indefinitely if they present a danger. Under domestic criminal law, you need to try someone or let them go,” said Armed Services member Lindsey Graham , R-S.C., a military lawyer who is working with the administration to overhaul the military commissions process in the context of the fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill (
The Senate’s top Democrats — Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois — declined to comment on the reports of the administration’s deliberations over what to do with the prisoners.
Durbin has often argued that terrorism suspects are held in U.S. prisons now, with no adverse consequences. He has also acknowledged the effectiveness of the GOP tactic of offering Guantánamo amendments in a way that pressures Senate Democrats to go along.
Many senators said they would wait to see the official plan before deciding whether to support or oppose the president. But if the reports are accurate, the White House will face a torrent of opposition.
“If they come up with this as their plan,” said Saxby Chambliss , R-Ga., “they better get ready for another fight.”
Comments
Democrats and Republicans alike missed their opportunity to provide Congressional oversight at a critical time in our history where their true purpose was needed. They allowed the formation of Guantánamo without questioning the long-term effects or implications. They allowed the previous Administration to detain who ever they wanted without question. They act now like they have no responsibility to find a solution. Congress men and women, you missed your opportunity, step aside like you did for the last eight years, and let the rest of us restore our American values and reputation.
I don't understand what the republican intransigence is coming from. These prisoners need to be moved and tried. They cannot stay at Guantanamo forever. At some point these so called Senators have to be leaders and not stoke and reinforce the fears of their constituents. We are Americans but our elected leaders are acting like they are in a banana republic.
How stupid do Republicans think the American people are to believe this hooey! If our prisons can hold and keep the most terrible of prisoners in our country, why are they concerned we can't keep these confined... Just another one of their scare tactics and big a canard they are spueing------
What everyone seems to miss in this discussion of NIMBY is that the Administration is proposing that a group of these detainees, whom they don't think they can convict (by hand-picking the court they go to), will be DEPRIVED TRIAL and HELD INDEFINITELY. Remember that Americans can be labelled terrorists by the govenment. This would then mean you could be put away for life with no trial. Is that what we want?
The four previous posters try to lay blame only at the feet of Republixans. I thought when I read the article that Carl Levine D-Mich wa also saying they can't legally move these detainees from Gitmo to Mich. or any where else in the continental U.S. without changing current law. The Dems certainly knew all about Gitmo long before the general public did and only began to raise objections after anti-American jounalists published treasonous photos of supposed mis-treatment of Muslim terrorists.Where was the moral outrage when clones of these terrorists cut the head off of innocent non-combatant Daniel Pearle and posted it on the internet for all too see? In my opinion that is much worse than anything that was done to any of the detainees with the goal of extracting information that could possibly save American life. does that type of thinking make me seem weird? I prefer to think of myself as NOT weird, but merely a thinking member not lead down the path that MSM wants us to unthinkingly follow. Oh now I remember the mantra. Everything wrong from the past and forevermore is to be blamed on Bush II.
I need to correct a misrepresentation of my post made by "I believe in MY Country". My post criticizes the Senate's lack of timely oversight, Democrats and Republicans alike. Both parties allowed the previous Administration to work unchecked. The Democrats were weak. The Republicans were loyal to their party but not to the people. Both parties need to find a solution. Both helped cause it.
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