Congressional GOP Push Back Against Obama’s New Gitmo Policy

[Geee]

Human Events:

Congressional Republicans are pushing legislation in response to President Obama’s dictate on Monday that gives more legal rights to the accused terrorists in Guantanamo Bay. The Congress was not consulted by the White House before an Executive Order was made to restart military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay, which did not address the larger legal and national security issues related to the military prison.

“We have serious concerns about the substance of President Obama’s executive sanction order creating a new review procedure for the Guantanamo detainees,” said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R.-Calif.) on Tuesday. “We will be introducing legislation dealing with the most significant problems raised by the executive order and other detainee-related issues.”

One day after Obama unilaterally determined U.S. policy on suspected terrorists detailed at Guantanamo Bay, McKeon sped up announcing legislation to redress the mistakes made in the administration's policy. The Detainee Security Act of 2011 would counter the White House order and put into law policies for handling the detainees and protection from terrorists.

On his second day in the White House in January 2009, Obama put out an Executive Order that he would close Guantanamo Bay’s prison for holding those captured in the War on Terror. Obama attempted to move the accused terrorists to the U.S. for civilian trials, which met extreme backlash from Congress and the public. As a result, Obama was forced to restart the military trials of the detainees who are still held at the base in Cuba.

“President Obama made a commitment in 2009 to come together and create a path forward with Congress. Unfortunately, that has not happened,” McKeon said.

“Instead, the White House did the exact opposite yesterday by emphasizing executive authority and leveling significant criticism toward Congress, calling our actions ‘dangerous,’ “ McKeon continued. “What I believe is dangerous is terrorists who wish to harm the Untied States.”