Senate denies money for closing Guantanamo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday dealt President Barack Obama a blow by denying him the $80 million he sought to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, but the White House said that would not delay plans to shut it down by early next year.
The Senate voted 90-6 to strip the prison money from a $91.3 billion bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also barred the Obama administration from using any funds to bring the 240 detainees held there to U.S. soil through September 30.
In a setback for Obama, his fellow Democrats who control the Senate dumped the money after intense Republican criticism that the administration lacked a plan for the detainees and they could be transferred to U.S. prisons.
The move could make it more difficult for Obama to fulfill his promise to close the prison on the U.S. naval base in Cuba -- one of the most visible legacies of the former Bush administration -- by January 2010.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama's goal would not necessarily be held up, citing commitments by lawmakers to work with the White House. Lawmakers want to see a plan for how to handle the detainees before doling out money.
Obama plans to address concerns about the prison and U.S. anti-terrorism policies in a speech on Thursday amid anger by rights groups for reversing his plans to end military tribunals for detainees and backing off releasing prison abuse photos.
"The president hasn't decided where some of the detainees will be transferred. Again, those are decisions that the task forces are working on and that the president will begin to lay out and discuss tomorrow," Gibbs said.
Testifying in Congress, FBI Director Robert Mueller declined to directly address concerns about releasing detainees into the United States. But he said he was concerned about people who try to plot attacks, incite others or raise money for terror groups.
An unreleased Pentagon report concludes that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from Guantanamo has returned to terrorism or militant activity, according to administration officials cited by the New York Times on Wednesday.
U.S. MAY HAVE TO KEEP SOME DETAINEES
Republicans have been worried about bringing any of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay to U.S. prisons. A Pentagon official said the United States will likely have to keep some in custody as it asks other countries to take some in.
"I think there will be some that need to end up in the United States. I can't tell you how many, I can't tell you where," Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters.
Democrats point out that convicted terrorists are already held in the United States.
Senators also approved an amendment requiring that the administration provide Congress with regular reports about detainees, including an assessment of threats they could pose, and certify that releasing any of them will pose no risks.
That and other provisions differ from the war funding bill that passed the House of Representatives, so lawmakers will have to sort out those differences in the coming days.