HASC action addresses Guantanamo transfers

The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) recently adopted a pair of National Defense Authorization Act amendments blocking the Guantanamo detainee transfers to certain countries presenting national security threats.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee and a senior HASC member, introduced the legislative revisions.

“The border crisis has depleted manpower and resources across the Department of Homeland Security, creating new security vulnerabilities,” Rogers said. “Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Venezuela are part of illicit pathways to the border. Releasing a hardened radical into a country with smuggling routes into the United States is asking for trouble. HASC members did the right thing by prohibiting Guantanamo detainees from being released there.”

Amendment 250, which was adopted by a vote of 29-28, prohibits the transfer of detainees to Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Venezuela while Amendment 253 bans detainee transfers to Cuba, Iran, Russia, and North Korea. It was adopted by voice vote.

“It is common sense not to send Guantanamo detainees to our enemies,” Rogers said. “I am pleased that members of the committee voted to bar the release of detainees to some of the most hostile countries across the globe.”