WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Barack Obama launched a final push yesterday to persuade Congress to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, despite strong opposition from lawmakers who do not want detainees transferred to the United States.
The president, a Democrat, pressed the Republican-led legislature to give his proposal a “fair hearing” and said he did not want to pass the issue to his successor in January.
The Pentagon-authored plan proposes 13 potential sites on U.S. soil to hold some 30-60 detainees in maximum-security prisons but does not identify the facilities.
U.S. law bars transfers to the United States, and lawmakers are unlikely to lift those restrictions, especially in an election year.
“We’ll review President Obama’s plan,” Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. “But since it includes bringing dangerous terrorists to facilities in U.S. communities, he should know that the bipartisan will of Congress has already been expressed against that proposal.”
