January 29, 2009

Vitter to Visit Guantanamo Bay

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Sen. David Vitter will join U.S. Sen. James Inhofe and other members of Congress on a Congressional Delegation to the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility Monday. Vitter has expressed his concerns over President Obama’s recent executive order to close in approximately one year the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, which currently houses enemy combatants and suspected terrorists.

“I was very disappointed in President Obama’s decision to close the detention facility at Guantanamo,” Vitter said. “This facility should not be closed, and these individuals should not be released until we can determine the extent of their potential involvement in terrorist activities. And we most certainly should use every available measure to ensure that they do not make their way into the United States if in fact they are released.”

Vitter recently introduced a bill that would prevent detainees from Guantanamo Bay from being admitted into the United States. The bill provides that no court of the United States may order the release or parole into America of any alien detained as an enemy combatant by the United States at Guantanamo Bay.

“As Chairman of the U.S. Senate Border Security and Enforcement First Caucus, I have great concerns about the possibility of allowing into the United States individuals who were, and will likely remain, a threat to homeland security,” Vitter said. “We most certainly do not want a policy where we legally admit terrorists, or suspected terrorists, into our country. This legislation would prevent that.”

Last Congress, the Senate passed a non-binding Sense of the Senate Resolution by a vote of 97-3 in favor of preventing Guantanamo detainees from being transferred to facilities in the United States.