WASHINGTON — The White House is close to bringing Congress another plan for closing the prison for terrorism detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a campaign pledge that President Obama hasn’t given up on, his spokesman said Wednesday.
“There has got to be a better way for us to spend taxpayer dollars than to spend more than $100 million a year operating a prison that only has, I think now, 116 inmates,” said press secretary Josh Earnest.
Earnest said the administration was in the “final stages” of drafting the plan for Congress. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, proposed creating the new path toward the possibility of closing the Guantanamo Bay facility.
But there’s opposition among many Republicans and Democrats, who fear that detainees sent home to the Middle East will return to terrorism activity.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.