Ayotte: Despite Administration's Claims, Closing Gitmo Makes Us Less Safe

Press Release

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte today responded to Vice President Joe Biden's comments that the administration expects to close Guantanamo Bay by January 2017:

"Contrary to what this administration has repeatedly asserted, emptying and closing Guantanamo Bay would make our country less safe - and if they have to transfer these dangerous terrorists to the United States in order to empty the facility, that would be a blatant and serious violation of the plain language of the law," said Senator Ayotte. "The preeminent responsibility of the federal government is to keep the American people safe, yet the Obama administration's misguided commitment to releasing dangerous detainees in order to close Guantanamo unacceptably gambles with our nation's safety."

Senator Ayotte has been a leader in pushing for a common-sense terrorist detention policy to protect our country, opposing plans to empty and close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, and fighting for more transparency from the administration. Ayotte has helped lead bipartisan efforts to include provisions in the annual defense bill that would prevent the transfer of high-threat detainees to the United States, prevent the transfer of dangerous detainees to foreign countries where they may reengage in terrorism, and to prevent the construction or modification of any facilities within the United States for the purpose of housing foreign terrorist detainees from Guantanamo. Ayotte continued her efforts this year with her legislation to permanently ban the transfer of detainees to the United States and suspend international releases.

This month, Ayotte also released an unclassified report she obtained from the Department of Defense detailing the terrorist activities and affiliations of Guantanamo detainees. In releasing that report, she noted that 93% of the detainees who remained at Guantanamo Bay as of late last year had been assessed as a high risk for a return to terrorism, underscoring the need to keep the facility open to prevent terrorists from returning to the battlefield and to gather the intelligence necessary to prevent future attacks.

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