By Bronte Price, PolitcKING
President Barack Obama has officially called for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay. On Tuesday, Obama delivered his plan to Congress to achieve the closure, which was part of his platform in 2008.
#Obama is right to close #Guantanamo but bringing indefinite detention to the US is reckless https://t.co/fR8bxBouKMpic.twitter.com/eFRExVwR73
— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) February 23, 2016
The plan, which the president vowed to carry out seven years ago, is already facing pushback from Republicans including Mitch McConnell. Republicans have placed legal obstacles to transferring Guantanamo detainees to U.S. prisons.
Obama said on Tuesday that ending Guantanamo would move the U.S. past what he called a troubled era of wartime behavior.
During short remarks at the White House, President Obama explained his plan to close the facility. "The plan we're putting forward today isn't just about closing the facility at Guantanamo. It's not just about dealing with the current group of detainees, which is a complex piece of business because of the manner in which they were originally apprehended and what happened. This is about closing a chapter in our history," he said.
Obama makes final attempt to persuade Congress to close Guantanamo: https://t.co/QxBpWx3yq7pic.twitter.com/V2MXkdmRTT
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) February 23, 2016
"Keeping this facility open is contrary to our values," Obama continued. "It undermines our standing in the world. It is viewed as a stain on our broader record of upholding the highest standards of rule of law."
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan opposed the plan saying that it "fails to provide critical details required by law." He added that "It is against the law -- and it will stay against the law -- to transfer terrorist detainees to American soil."
John McCain also criticized the plan. He said that it is "not a credible plan for closing Guantanamo, let alone a coherent policy to deal with future terrorist detainees."
Lee Wolosky, the U.S. Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure, said that "It's a difficult ask of the U.S. to make, to say please take these individuals whom the world has branded as terrorists. And frequently we have little to offer them in return, except the continued goodwill of the United States."
Here’s what Jesse Ventura has to say about the future of Guantanamo:
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