WASHINGTON — New legislation by Senate Democrats would fund the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but it would block the transfer of any of the detainees to the United States.
The move to sidestep a political minefield is a rebuff to President Barack Obama, whose promise to close the Guantanamo facility within a year of taking office has run into Republicans and Democrats opposed to bringing accused terrorists onto U.S. shores.
The development comes as the full House and a key Senate panel are poised to advance Obama’s $85 billion request for military and diplomatic efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, a request that has swelled by another $5 billion to reflect the cost of new U.S. contributions to the International Monetary Fund.
The request for $50 million to close Guantanamo and transfer its detainees elsewhere has attracted much controversy, occupying many lawmakers even as other lawmakers voice growing worries about the chances of defeating al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The administration has yet to produce a plan for what to do with the approximately 240 Guantanamo detainees, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that between 50 and 100 would end up in U.S. facilities.
The $96.7 billion measure headed for a House vote today contains no funds to transfer Guantanamo detainees.
But Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, on Wednesday circulated a $91.5 billion measure that includes $50 million to shutter Guantanamo and move its prisoners, with the proviso they can’t be sent to the U.S.
The Senate bill appears to favor paying foreign governments to accept the prisoners.
