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WASHINGTON,
DC
–
Following
the
President’s
State
of
the
Union
Address,
U.S.
Senators
Tim
Scott
(R-S.C.), Pat
Roberts
(R-Kan.),
and
Cory
Gardner
(R-Colo.)
today
said
President
Obama’s
intention
to
use
executive
action
to
re-locate
terrorists
held
at
the
detention
facility
at
Guantanamo
Bay
to
American
communities
would
harm
national
security.
During
the
speech,
the
Senators
sat
together
in
united
opposition
to
the
President’s
plan.
“Tonight’s
comments
by
President
Obama
continue
to
show
his
willingness
to
defy
current
law,
Congress
and
the
American
people
in
regards
to
Guantanamo
Bay,” Scott
said.
“The
President’s
ongoing
attempts
to
relocate
dangerous
international
terrorists
to
domestic
sites
on
US
soil
are
dangerous,
plain
and
simple.
There
is
absolutely
no
need
to
put
a
target
on
an
American
community
when
we
already
have
a
world-class
facility
guarded
by
well-trained
Marines
to
hold
these
detainees.”
“The
intention
to
send
terrorists
to
the
mainland
is
just
another
of
the
Obama
Administration’s
misguided
strategic
national
security
decisions,”
Roberts
said.
“Closing
Guantanamo
will
never
endear
radical
Islamic
fundamentalists
to
America.
It
will
simply
move
these
detainees
and
their
security
risks
north,
to
one
of
the
communities
in
our
states.”
"The
American
people
and
Congress
have
been
extremely
clear:
Guantanamo
Bay
houses
some
of
the
world's
deadliest
terrorists,”
Gardner
said. "They
do
not
belong
back
on
the
battlefield
fighting
against
us,
nor
do
they
belong
on
U.S.
soil.
Bringing
them
here would
be
reckless
and
dangerous.
The
President
should
abandon
this
misguided
political
plan."
In
November,
86
percent
of
the
House
and
Senate
voted
for
legislation
that
bars
the
transfer
of
Guantanamo
detainees
to
domestic
soil.
The
White
House
has
repeatedly
stated
their
desire
for
Congress
to
“get
out
of
the
way”
and
let
them
close
Guantanamo,
regardless
of
the
30
percent
recidivism
rate
among
released
detainees,
the
hundreds
of
millions
of
dollars
it
will
cost
to
construct
a
new
facility,
and
the
fact
that
opening
domestic
facility
would
place
a
bright
red
bullseye
on
an
American
community.
The
Administration
has
already
surveyed
sites
in
South
Carolina,
Kansas,
and
Colorado
as
potential
replacement
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