A Southern California-based Congressman called the president's plan to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay "reckless" and "dangerous."
President Barack Obama on Tuesday released his long-awaited plan to shut down Gitmo and transfer the remaining detainees to a facility in the United States, NBC News reported.
The plan calls for up to $475 million in construction costs, according to The Associated Press. The cost would in part cover the transfer of some of the remaining 91 detainees to facilities in the U.S., but Obama said the plan would ultimately save money.
The president said some 30 detainees will be transferred to other countries and he hopes to work with Congress to find "a secure location in the U.S" to transfer nearly 60 detainees.
U.S. Rep Darrell Issa (R - 49th District) issued a statement saying the president’s plan would take “detainees deemed too dangerous to transfer to other countries and bring them right into our own backyards.”
“President Obama is once again proving his willingness to set aside the rule of law to pursue his own reckless agenda no matter the consequences for the American people," Issa said in the prepared statement.
In announcing the plan, Obama said “it has been clear that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay does not advance our national security—it undermines it."
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He said the prison is counterproductive to the fight against terrorists because they use it as a recruiting tool.
