McConnell to Obama: Don’t forget that it’s illegal to transfer terrorists to US
posted at 2:01 pm on February 23, 2016 by Ed Morrissey
http://hotair.com/archives/2016/02/23/mcconnell-to-obama-dont-forget-that-its-illegal-to-transfer-terrorists-to-us/Count Mitch McConnell among the unimpressed with Barack Obama’s plan to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. The Senate Majority Leader responded to Obama’s declared plan to transfer its detainees to one or more of thirteen potential locations within the US by reminding the President that Congress has opposed such a move on a bipartisan basis. And, by the way, such a move would be illegal — under bills Obama has already signed:
Count Paul Ryan among the unimpressed as well:
NBC News noted that such transfers remain against the law, too:
Members of Congress have been demanding the Guantanamo plan for months, and those representing South Carolina, Kansas and Colorado have voiced opposition to housing the detainees in their states.
The administration is currently prohibited by law from moving Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States.
“This isn’t even a case where the president can use some kind of pen and phone strategy by claiming the Congress refused to act,” McConnell said. The White House hasn’t officially ruled out the possibility of the president using executive action to close Guantanamo Bay prison if an agreement with Congress isn’t struck.
Basically, Obama will only get his way on closing Gitmo one of two ways: either convince Congress to legalize transfer of the unreleasable al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees to the US, or … release them. Gallup hasn’t polled on the topic since mid-2014, but Congress clearly responded to a bipartisan mandate to keep it open at that time, with 66% opposed to closure and only 29% supporting Obama’s position. A Rasmussen poll from January 2015 got similar results, 29/53. The fact that more polls haven’t been conducted on this question over the past couple of years attests to the broad consensus that Gitmo should stay open.
Neverthless, Obama demanded a “fair hearing” for his closure plan, and argued that Gitmo’s continued operation represents a “stain” on the honor of America:
