WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today announced that the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including his amendment to prohibit the administration from reprogramming funds intended for other purposes to transfer the remaining terrorists at Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) to the mainland or to construct an alternative site on the mainland.
Video of Senator Roberts discussing the bill is here.
“This bill provides critical funding for our military, including equipment, pay, and programs to protect this nation from the many threats we face as a nation – and it again prohibits the administration from transferring terrorists at Guantanamo Bay to the mainland,” said Roberts. “I was pleased to secure an amendment in this bill which goes one step further to explicitly prohibit the administration from going around the Congress and using funds intended for other purposes to transfer these prisoners or construct an alternative site for GITMO.
“The president is again threatening to veto this legislation over a campaign promise which is already against the law. Fortunately the clock has run out, but I will not stop fighting to preventing the president from sending terrorists to our communities.”
The NDAA, which passed the Senate by a vote of 85-13, authorizes funding for the Department of Defense through Fiscal Year 2017. The bill contains the first major update to Pentagon organization in 30 years, with the goal of prioritizing innovation and improving the development and execution of defense strategy. It also modernizes the military health system to provide military service members, retirees, and their families with higher-quality care, better access to care, and a better experience of care.
Roberts’ amendment to the bill amendment prohibits reprogramming of funds for the transfer or release of detainees held at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to an alternative site in the United States. “Reprogramming” funding is when an agency seeks flexibility to use funds appropriated to other accounts. Generally agencies must seek the approval of Congress. The Roberts amendment also prohibits the reprogramming of funds to construct alternative facilities to house the detainees.
Roberts has led the charge in the Senate against the Obama administration’s attempts to close Guantanamo Bay and transfer the prisoners to the U.S. mainland, in particular Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, a site that has been surveyed by the administration. Ft. Leavenworth is the home to the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, which houses U.S. military prisoners, and it is against the law for enemy combatants to be housed with members of the U.S. military. Fort Leavenworth is also home to the Command and General Staff College, the Intellectual Center of the Army, where all Army officers study.